My Aunt's Boyfriend

I went to many parades as a child

Only one really stands out

The pirates!

I clearly remember the pirates

And the candy

And the random plastic jewelry that was awarded

It was my aunt's boyfriend that took me to this one

I loved being out in Seattle

I loved being with my aunt’s boyfriend

I had no idea she was going to dump him

Over something so trivial as a practical joke

I mean he had a fing sail boat

He had a condo

He had money for ice cream

Which he bought for us

He took us to the mall

He did so many things for us kids, I'm sure he got into trouble from my mom

Everyone gets into trouble from my mom, man, don't take it personal or nothing.

I mean come on

That condo alone

What more could she hope for than him?

But, no, some random day in my childhood my aunt’s boyfriend was gone.

He did make fun of my sister for being so fat, she squashed my collar bone, breaking it, diving for a frisbee

Maybe my aunt’s boyfriend had it coming.

Who knows.

He wasn't half bad looking.

It was as though every single person in my life had a piece to fit to make my life complete but you had the one to rip my heart in two.

Towel

"Place your hands at my throat." She said.

"Here?"

"Yes, there."

"Squeeze."

"I can't."

"You already have a thousand times, what makes this time any different?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"You're scaring me."

"I'm scaring you."

That's rich

Clock on the wall

I replaced your heart with a block of pre charred wood

And then lit it on fire.

No one noticed

You certainly did

I called the fire dept myself

You sat and waited 

I held your hands as tears flowed down your cheeks

Never leaving your eyes

Looking directly into them

I lit fire to your heart, beating still in your chest

just for me

and no one noticed

The arson took place in less than seconds

I watched on the clock in the hall that you personally changed the battery in

The one with the broken plastic shield that kept the paper with the numbers on it, securely in tack

You figured this out,

After breaking the plastic by accident

By dropping the shield on the floor

that that paper was curled in such a way

as to prevent the big and small arms of the clock from turning properly

if the plastic shield was not placed on top

So you fixed it

Taped the cover now broke in two 

with the only tape you could find

replaced the dead battery,

and placed the clock back on the wall.

Unlike your heart,

the clock is still ticking

Goldfinch

I will love you until

the final grasp of my fingers

On the corners of this bed 

We call earth. 

until the silt leaves this  marrow,

And like our chilly breath 

Settling on the corners of this window pane,

You sit like a Goldfinch,

Eating away at my hands, 

Slowing devouring my veins in a single slurp of your soul, 

Sitting inside mine

(much apologizes for the absurdity of this poem. I like some of it. I'm very, very much trying to get back into writing after a year of 2 blog posts, this upsets me.)