It could have been a lucid dream. The creeping of the hall light, the next door voices in the wall. My burning in your absence. The way you loved me which was rooted in the way a man once kept you company. I remember the feathered edges of the vision—how it made us think that misplaced trust could keep away the danger. An after image is seared into my mind: the quiver of your jaw when the lies came crawling out, even when the truth was there and ready for the taking.

he sees the world in negative,

rainbows turn to leather

in his eyes and

the granite tombstones

shimmer back daylight,

maybe this is why he's lost,

still hiding from halos

with creatures that celebrate

his deformity,

and framing the light of saints

with his tendency to fall short,

so his pain feels like forgiveness

as it comes in faithful

between the omens

that reveal themselves

in the shadows of bliss.

he is blind to color because

his soul was born before

anyone celebrated the

consequence of him.

Hold me,

Like you hold your breath

Underwater—

Knowing that the moment

You let me go,

You'll drown

her thighs part like the red sea

and i speak only in tongues

a liquid language, we are a fluid people

a shared undertow

pulling into each other

wave after wave

after another

supernovas in stomachs show

we are offspring of the stars,

salt of the earth

rubbing skin like sandpaper,

light of the world

burning cheeks and melding fingers

jesus, she shivers

judas,

i whisper

judas

i never thought i'd do this—

betray faith for

something silver,

something stable

we worship nothing

but we praise resurrection

of our stumbling souls

piece by piece,

we build jericho in minutes

just to come crashing down

until we are whole

The nightlight casts my room

Soft and pink.

I wonder if you remember it like that

Or if the memory of it is

Awkward and noir.

Like all my memories

Of you.