I am the echo of your wants,
a whisper you can’t chase.
And when you reach for me,
I’m gone—like smoke you can't erase.
I've got some tricks tucked up my sleeve.
I've become someone I hate.
If you're drawn to pain, come closer—
I’ll hand you all my weight.
......
I said I wanted quiet—
now I flinch when I get it.
There’s a hum in the silence
that sounds like regret,
but I don’t name it.
Not out loud.
I still walk like I’m untouchable.
Still flirt with ruin like it’s mine to keep.
But some nights, I miss softness
......
There is a haunting phantom called Regret,
A shadowy creature robed somewhat like woe,
But fairer in the face, whom all men know
By her said mien, and eyes forever wet.
No heart would seek her; but once having met
All take her by the hand, and to and fro
They wander through those paths of long ago-
Those hallowed ways 'twere wiser to forget.
One day she led me to that lost land's gate
......
The one who drives me crazy
Yet still makes me feel safe
Although I scream and snap at you
You still put up with me.
It's an honor to be your girlfriend
Anybody else would agree
You're so much greener than a flag
And your generosity never ends.
......
(villanelle)
Once, in my youth, I shot a bird
The bullet box gave the warning
I was “range one mile” empowered
I owned a gun with bead sight forward
In birch-edged lea, alone one morning
Once, in my youth I shot a bird
......
The one who drives me crazy
Yet still makes me feel safe
Although I scream and snap at you
You still put up with me.
It's an honor to be your girlfriend
Anybody else would agree
You're so much greener than a flag
And your generosity never ends.
......
I said I wanted quiet—
now I flinch when I get it.
There’s a hum in the silence
that sounds like regret,
but I don’t name it.
Not out loud.
I still walk like I’m untouchable.
Still flirt with ruin like it’s mine to keep.
But some nights, I miss softness
......
I am the echo of your wants,
a whisper you can’t chase.
And when you reach for me,
I’m gone—like smoke you can't erase.
I've got some tricks tucked up my sleeve.
I've become someone I hate.
If you're drawn to pain, come closer—
I’ll hand you all my weight.
......
(villanelle)
Once, in my youth, I shot a bird
The bullet box gave the warning
I was “range one mile” empowered
I owned a gun with bead sight forward
In birch-edged lea, alone one morning
Once, in my youth I shot a bird
......
q u e t c h
Tendril wafted dunes
of barren sands waffle,
swirl across mile
upon mile in every direction-
your face appears a horizon away,
there is little comfort found
in accompanying echoes.
......