Every piece

I am every piece of fruit
In this miserable bowl
Etched out with a hot knife

Pitted cherries that bleed onto shattered apples
Tart lemons that cry onto unripened cantaloupes
Naked bananas that brown, so exposed

Someone took my plans
And diced them into confetti
They have taken my peels and core

I am every piece
Of a bittersweet mess

erosion

There’s a place in this night where my
Brave face melts.
And though it wrenches my heart,
I would go there every night
And say goodbye again
Because goodbye is at least something.

I travel there without a map or compass
To find my way back.
Tears navigate me through this wilderness
And I trust that they will return me
Safely home in the morning.
We have an understanding, the tears and I.
This is where I let them have their run.

Somewhere in between sleep and wakefulness
I let them find me
And irrigate the places
That daylight dries up.
They flow over chipper assurances
And forced grins.
I let them erode feigned strength
And crumble got-it-togetherness.

I would go there every night
And let these tears wash over me.
To remove the cheap perfume
Of the word “fine” and the gaudy glitter
Of a best face forward.
I’d rather weather my skin under this storm
Than be smooth-faced and vacant-eyed

Though it wrenches my heart,
I would go there every night
To be distressed and relieved both at once
Mysteriously grasping something
Too complex for words but not for tears;
That one can see most clearly when their vision blurs.