inminesomnia.

some nights i fight falling asleep
because i feel as though when the morning comes,
you might wake up & realize you're out of your mind.
look at yourself in the mirror & not recognize that
face anymore.
laugh at the lines & shake off the jangles.
coil yourself up into the ball you know
& force feed a quick retreat back home.

but then i jerk straight at the breaking light.
cold sweat & a song in my head.
take comfort in the thinnest of glass
& walk the day away, teetering on blades of grass.

under the boards.

we gather up the grease & wheels
& steal & spoke.
to the fire & to the water
like the smith's finest shank.
a solid, strong shadow
that swallows & wallows in
the loneliest of corners
where the spiders creep
& floor boards creek with each tiny trumble.
wither & spoon dig a stitch
in the flume & the smell is
all but bearable.
undressing the rot
& airing out sots
that stumble & mumble under the light & short order,
our husky, broken voices
sing of the holiest of murder.


-jack be nimble
jack be quick.
jack jumped, full of stone,
right off the bow of his ship.

validity is overrated.

wrestling with the demons that won't stay dead
& the part of me that just can't believe.

i paint myself green
swinging high in the trees
like a Lisbon girl,
cut down by dutch elm disease.
there's a monster in this skin
& i'm jumping trains in the wind,
dressed for tonic & gin
while she puts on black to go out again.

i've got a rhythm that moves like a jigsaw.