death by dandelion

yearning is a body wasting away in satin sheets

bloated with fantasies of skinny dipping in broad daylight

rooftop picnics and poetry when the moon is full;

soft kisses when she’s empty, emotions to match

they’re all but stenciled dreams, off-brand memories

a stranger’s home video tapes on the ceiling

worshiped through chlorine eyes

yearning is forgetting this life

for one that never was and never will be

trying on shoes that no one can walk in

but wearing them anyway

that’s why all the pretty girls have feet that ache and bleed

and pretty boys in their bedrooms

yearning is a soul decomposing

a grave for the stems of dandelions plucked from the earth

while their cotton fae now cling to the dreamcatchers

swaying vacant in the kitchen window

it is wanting and wanting and

weeping over what cannot be