What if he does drugs

that end up ruining his life?

What if he never finds himself a husband

Or a loving wife?

What if he is timid and never follows

His wildest dreams?

What if he’s successful

But he’s horrid and he’s mean?

What if he decides

That he can only lie?

That no one will love him

Or they only say goodbye?

What if he regrets

All of his biggest choices?

Or he completes his aspirations

But...

Love is a lie that keeps us alive

Take a deep breath,

Come swim, take a dive.

Drown in the depths of a coital embrace

Cater to the waves

While you forget your own face.

Pretend it uplifts,

That your love truly inspires,

All the while managing a million small fires.

Paint on that smile,

Put on that mask,

Praying that no one,

someone,

anyone,

will ask....

I can’t stand the way you look at me 

So I sit my ass right down.

I meet your avaricious gaze

With a thought provoking frown.

I’ll hold my breath and a bears paw

While I twirl around my drink

Hoping, always, that just for once,

I didn’t have to think:

About the bar, about the scene,

My dress, my shoes, my hair.

All of it an alleged invitation,

For the predators to stare.

I cannot leave the buildin...

“Oh, no, no, no, no,” the girl crooned, rocking violently as she ran her hands through her scraggly hair. She was curled in the corner of the dark room, as filthy as the dirt floor. They had unchained her over twenty-four hours ago, but she didn’t move outside of the five foot radius she had become accustomed to. She continued to mumble and was restless in her fidgeting.

“Why, Aiden, why did you ...

We all have those stories

that our family tells.

Cute little anecdotes

that everyone

remembers in a similar way,

that somehow illustrate a quirk

or charming attribute

of the people in the story.

But sometimes

in the retelling,

we see something we didn’t see before.

A light bulb goes off.

A piece of information slides into place.

Suddenly

there’s an explanation.

“I’ll be nice to her ...

You don’t realize how much of yourself

is lost

until you start picking up the pieces again. One by one,

meandering in darkness,

squinting to make out what

it is you’re collecting,

what

it is you’re building back up.

Hansel and Gretel at least

planned ahead before being captured and eaten,

leaving themselves a convenient trail back home.

But you don’t plan for an abusive relationship,

no ...

There is no need to worry about where I will wander, for I will not walk this earth without you.

Be it up in the mountains where we are close to the sky, the stars and the moon within our grasp; surrounded by the open air, the frosty breath of altitude, amidst the grandeur of Aurora herself, but if I cannot turn to see your smile, nothing else is worth looking at.

If it is between seeing your ...

I still myself for the sounding crunch

Of pine cones and deciduous leaves

Falling, bouncing off the eaves

While squirrels bound to find their lunch

The softest noise, a tiny munch

The dying world, the crisp air grieves

And carries winter on its breeze

Causing bundled shoulders to scrunch

The smell of cinnamon and cloves

The hot chocolate brewed in daily droves

Future pies picked from the groves ...

A tamed mess of mostly walnut and some dark copper hues tangle in the shape of a beard, meet with lighter strands from a mustache I try to interact with daily. Full lips barely conceal a ready smile of wide, white teeth, transforming his entire face to joy, an expression I piece my actions together in efforts to experience. Thick eyebrows frame the kindest, most beautiful hazel eyes, their softnes...

I’ve thought most often of how I hate it here

The oppressive heat

The stagnant, crushing air

My singular set of scarred hands

My blistering, disintegrating feet

The torn feeling of our home

And what home should be

The lack of familiar faces, friends I’ve had to find and construct

The surrounding strangers

Relationships I’ve sacrificed and opportunities I’ve ripped myself away from

The constant ac...