JERUMAI

Black trees lined up on an indigo sky
I looked out to sea and fluttered my eye
Two birds go by, one black and one white
On their way home, they split up in flight
A sunsetting highway with gray clouds across
It looked like a future until they got lost
The blackbird took off on an interstate landscape
Of roads winding miles, of forests and blocks
He never looked backward for his other half
But every so often remembers the cost
Of the black trees lined up on an indigo sky
They know that I’m here, they’ll never know why
I’m busted and blue, there’s blood in my eyes
And a thick cloud of smoke that cloaks me outside

I wake up early in the hour of blue
Across the warm waters that flood the Dead Sea
So I can have my black coffee with you
And try to forget what I couldn’t be
Embrace from a man who made me feel seen
Your hologram sits there and stares back at me
I weep for the future that you couldn’t see
Three words, I may never know what they mean
The city that loved me, I stripped myself clean
Call off the shots and cut through my bloodstream

A family of trees crawl up in the sky
Against gravity, the veins in my eye
Blink once or twice, the salt washes clear
The streaks and blurs that speak for my fears
Red atmosphere, white blood cells that fly
They flurry about, and dance as I cry

It was just a tiny airplane
A boy looked out the window pane
It wouldn’t open, no fresh air
A sea of purple acid rain
I fell down from the sky
And landed on my knees
A city full of roundabouts
I run in circles, crying
“Strawman, talk to me
It all just feels so slippery”
The slopes have no signs
No red lights, no green

From the west to the willows to the whalers, I’m free
I build my new house in a tall dancing tree
Follow the trails going uphill and down
from the new atmosphere to the old burning ground,
Where I’m backed by a drop of the hot setting sun
And my silent alarms send a cold blaring sound

I grew up fast, a means to an end.
How did I stop? Will I go again?
Who took the pages out of my book,
and who stole the pen?

Birds graze the grass, we’re landing in tandem
Out on the road with the pomelo trees
Shaking and swaying, I’m captive, I’m free
I open my eyes, I’m up from the dream
Left on my own amidst stop and go traffic
At the left hand turn where I always freeze
I reach for your hand, the 1 I once knew
I look to my right, there’s no one to see

Did we go out with a bang,
or out with a bore?
Did we burst into flames,
or drown at the shore?
Will my heart still pang
if I close the door?
I may never know for certain,
for sure.

Four sago palms that shiver and shrug,
their bristles feel tight in the cold valley wind
I lay here with them, we’re both out of place
cursed by a longing for tropical sin
We stand patiently in the frostbitten air
We hold our hands tight, softly in stance
for a glistening chance to be blown away.
Until then, I say, we sway and we dance

Twin flames of water, yin yang of stones
Gold rolling embers, high horses, high thrones 
Titanium falls in the spotlight alone
I quietly dreamt what I’ve never known

The fog became mist at the death of a tryst
In a cloud that we reside 
The people can see that it’s you and me 
Pushing and pulling the tide

Contained in a daydream, in scriptures and sonnets
The only place everything’s real
A blue flower steeped in my blood sweat and tears
It blossomed just for me to feel 

Salt laden petals and roots in the ground 
Moondrops and midnights got lost the rain
Swallow my body, my heart and my spirit 
I turn ultraviolet and run through your veins

Silver screen shadows fell hollow and dry
Black and white ghosts got stuck to the page
The infrared man looks into the eye 
I burst into flames at the top of the stage 

Firelight shields my rebirth from the ash
An indigo phoenix with tears in my eyes
Up in the air where I wallow in flight
And find my way home through bluemarine skies

The clocks turn slowly
I sit tight in the foyer
Of a sacred scarlet lair
With a lockless trap door

White creaking floorboards
And buzzing lamps of light
The specks of dust trickle down
One by one from a paint spackled ceiling

They fall into place
And sit in silence
They watch us lock eyes
And we melt into one

Charging my magnets
And pulling you in
Our ions explode
With smoke signals and gunpowder

My astral projections of you send a glow
Lke emeralds through the rose colored cloud
At once we touch from a distance
And pulse not in unison, in harmony

Your figure stands still as a statue
The writing on your chest
And eyes like Bambi
Say to me what you see

My figure melts like a candle
The scar on my shoulder
And eyes like watercolor
Dip into my well of tears

Our colors let out a whisper
From the oils on your palette
Maroon and midnight
And ochre and ivory

The oils never dry
I wait in tender patience
To be picked up and painted
On your rose colored canvas

Slashes and scriptures and souls made of silver
Wherever you go I won’t be far
Dim the moonlights and black out the sun
Safe in your corner at the downtown bar

You said let’s get out of town
In a moment we run with the wind
Leaving all things behind
But our sacred purple pigments

My breath and bones begin to break
You sprint so swiftly that I can’t keep close
But I sprout a span of bluemarine wings
And fly by your side at the speed of moonlight

A field of wilting poppies
Run fingers through my hair
Pick the petals softly
And tell me what I fear

A fistful of answers
Come with a single stroke
“You did this to yourself”
I didn’t want to know

I rot from within
With blisters my spine
Dewdrops on my skin
And silver tangled vines

Eat me alive and devour my secrets
Bury them deep or they’ll make you vomit
Crashing like waves and broken like knee caps
Gashes agape from my blood spattered sonnets

I cage myself in jackets
Strangled, never slaughtered
Stapled to the floorboards
And anchored underwater

So the body lies in beauty
With precious powdered skin
Miles beneath the surface
With the truth and chosen sin

A hypnotic attraction
Born of sober confusion
And a cold blazing stare
From a girl standing tall

She flows with the water
In shades of golden yellow
The peaches and mangoes
Violet hearts on a string

The look of a lily
With glitter in her eyes
And the soft touch of iv
That lays riverside

But her back facing eyesight
Seeks with silver bullets
And a rose colored laser
Sat right between my eyes

Her knife cuts in silence
A strike to the throat
My indigo bloodstream
Comes fast crashing down

Her amethyst necklace
Lit up with a flame
Her heartstrings went grayscale
I turned her to ash

Blink twice, be nice
It’s all in my head
Breathe deep, just sleep
I see you again

Goosebumps and still hairs
In the white hot sun
Silence casts a windchill
Along my tender spine

Chosen rays of sunlight
Peak in through the clouds
Give edging moments of warmth
To my soft blooming lotus

I rewrite the scripture
In cells of my body
You wanted to paint me
In bright shades of blue

A full moon eclipse
And I captured its water
A jar of my tears
Steeped with dream laden flowers

As moonlight starts to melt
Over the frost covered clouds
You said “I know a place”
To bury our thoughts in the sand

Our figures stand shallow
In the black wading water
We light up its body
As midnight meets maroon

Shining so bright we blind the stars
The glow of our pink purple cloud
On that midnight lifetimes ago
We became the sun and the moon