Prodigal

 I left you there

Packed your words away

Delicately, like beautiful candies

Wrapped in shining cellophanes

I went to the party friends

Their words dripping,

Syrupy sweets

And I was empty.

And I was lost.
And I was still
And always
Yours.

Abraham

I’ve seen you in fresh cut grass

The smell of Good coffee

Summer nights

And neon, naked skin

In Ethan's voice,

Noah's dred locks,

Chelsea's laugh

Ross's teeth

And the rain.

In stained glass, Sesame Street, and the Bible

Stuart's strong arms and Peter's angry words

Torn photographs, grease

And the date:

August 17, 2005

I have seen you in all of these things

Your face, your laugh

Your olive tone

The way you hated me

And only me

The way you forced me

And tore into me,

Into my trust

My innocence

I have seen you in all of these things

And in my terrified reactions

Forgotten moments that have since crystallized in front of me:

Sweaty brow,

Inaudible speech,

Clammy,

 Empty skin

Blindness

Arching back

Circulation coming to my

Bones

So brittle like

A crushed can

Or a hollowed out loaf

Of bread as if scraped

From the inside

My chest

A tomb

A Dream. A Song.

Deep within the valley of that frozen frame

I was calling out to you, I didn't know your name

I don't know what to call you

But I know I'm not yours.

And down with a crack

On that old tombstone

Galloping o'er Death

And the Great Unknown

Saying, "I will never know

Of the sting of this fractured

World."