Did someone ever look at you in a crowded room

as if the roles you were playing sprung you out of the captivity of soil

like ostrich feathers grazing each other with chalky beauty––

when all of the stage becomes your world and the lights

become a crooning flame that covered your eyes with sawdust,

did your heart stutter––

were the walls of the theatre not so deep-seated within your seams,

your hair follicles, your hems, your stitching,

you mistook it for your mother?

I am a clay slab given a voice–– words on a page only

open into wounds, into throats

that need to speak.

Somehow, one way or another, it was in pretense

I found love.

To write is similar to being splayed out on a table,

scalpel ready for incision, eyes inspect each crevice.

Pages and pages of my person peeled back,

revealing bones of vowels and consonants.

When stripped down to my core, I’m but a mere vessel

for these words. The news imprints itself into my skin,

world issues seep into my veins. These words,

they consume me, just as I consume them.

I’m made of the media I absorb in its written form,

the type that influences what text flows in my brain.

I’m made of my views, beliefs; messy ones that splatter

against the cold metal, drying in grey.

I’m made of the pages I write,

as writing is akin to a confession. One that I will say

laying here open and raw on the autopsy table,

words from the world spilling from my seams.

In a large pan, heat laziness over medium heat, don’t add too much or it won’t do what you want it to do. Add minced generosity and let it cook for 2 minutes. While it’s cooking, stir in some sympathy.

Let the love for cats reduce and cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Add half of the hatred for chemistry to the mixture and whisk until smooth. Keep over heat and whisk until all that bitterness is melted.

Save some tears, they are full of flavour and can be used to thin out the sauce. Only use tears if you’re adding hatred for chemistry.

Toss the Melody sauce with the pasta and add getting only-7-hours-of-sleep-daily to the sauce. Once it is tossed, you might need to let it rest for a couple hours. Add a little cheerfulness if it needs to be less messy.

Garnish with just a little sensitivity, please only add a little, it can’t handle too much.

After all this work that probably took 15 years, eat it while it’s fresh because it can only handle being outside for around 3 hours.

The first valentines gift I ever got someone

was a small bundle of wrinkled

white

babysbreath wrapped in

flimsy brown paper

loosely gathered in a

frayed twine bow.

They turned

pink

months later when I found out

tulips were her favourite.