one if by...

light blinks in the water
like frozen thoughts
thawing
submerged, inundated with details
and the signals keep ticking
your subtle technology
filters through my darkness, my silence, and my dreams...

~

RNH

smitten company

they say three is company
a party in the making
chaos in the dividends
starting up the anarchy
but i will take my chair
and pull it an inch closer or two
nothing could be better
than the thrill
of me and you.

~

RNH

tea time

tilted fuzzy mustache
pours the tea
disturbs the context
swirls the drunken rabbit's
sugar
in his white cup, collecting
sand
in beach shoes.

~

RNH

elf love

traced your ear up to its point
with my long, thin fingertips
and laughed at your soft, messy hair
as unkempt as the bed you keep
in disarray, the sheets all twirled
your clothes perpetually wrinkled and yet
i would not love you more if you were without
imperfections, the reasons
i cherish you most.

~

RNH

venerable clown

exasperated silhouette
conjures your ghost
implores the mask of audience
to believe
and revels in the spotlight, the magic
and the dust
of an old, faded clown still
performing beautiful tricks.

~

RNH

the noose

hung up
by the noose you created
your own devastation
a form of foreplay
when your elbows unhinge,
the weight of the stock bars
crushing,
remember the choices you made...

~

RNH

tattoo

i will not let you touch me
the skin already marked, begins
to take its own design entirely
self-determined
self ascends
to peaks, uncharted
land, unclaimed
i am my own
unaltered name
when the ink denotes the writer      
know that i will stay the same. 

~

RNH

Dia de los Muertos

death in a mask
in a face painted red
black and white, with the eyes
hollowed out, caving in
and the teeth, gritting, bared
straight through the gates of hell
came the little broken child
to haunt
you for all your days.

~

RNH

the color of duplicity

the paint peeled back like a promise
you could not keep, the edges
regretting their permanence and deceit
in the guilty pale ink retreating, curling doubt high
with the color of duplicity
engrained within your eyes. 

~

RNH

little boat

she's worried in her little boat,
rolling and pitching
the waves are tremendous, the ship
almost flipping
but take heart, she holds on
the compass points true
love will always lead her
to the same spot,
straight to you.

~

RNH

blue blanket

the sky was so blue
it merged with the water
one quiet wash
the murmur of a dreaming,
sleeping child
in the arms of his mother
the warmest, safest haven
to be wrapped
in the blanket, rocking
as the gentle sea.

~

RNH

carry

she said, lean back, give
your weight to me
i will help you float
rest your worried head
in my hands, i will
bear the load, i carry
the stress, no burden
to confess, this
is my privilege to hold
you close
here, your home is in my heart
for this life and forever more.

~

RNH

rust

you lay in me
as a rusted spike
a thorn
i could not kill
the sharp edge turning
in its cylinder
motion raking, shrieking shrill
the painful memories
have little teeth
staples burn in parallel pins
i twist in the grasp
of such fine torture
content, this is only as deep as my skin.

~

RNH

sovereign

i would not be a posable doll
if i were a toy
in fact, i would not be
a toy at all
but some other creature, by choice
i would not be
pretty or
perfect or
bendable
knowing
just what you wanted from me
instead, i
would be a will
of my own making
my body, my sovereignty.

~

RNH

firestorm

flame went up like a curtain
lit the furniture
climbing the walls
and it inhaled all of our history
consuming regret, devouring fault
and it swept the sadness and silence
under its orange and burgundy wave
and i watched from my dream in the darkness
knowing there was nothing i could save.

~

RNH

core

if you are not the match, you are the flame
if you are not the striking motion,
you are the exhaled name
if you are not my fiery
lava center
you are the core that surrounds
the volatile forces, making them whole.

~

RNH

after the fight

locker room smells like a fight
the salt of sweat, the heat
of body and inertia combined
and the soap drifts
slowly like steam
making the tile shiny
white towel
tied
around my waist.

~

RNH

the loss

the boxer, covered in sweat
near tears, one eye swollen
the ring of smokey black darkens
with the bruising
covering
the aching
a burning sting
the loss of integrity
greater than any win.

~

RNH

jackpot

you left me in the casino
i came back
to the same spot
to find you
gone
and while the machines jingled, singing
their whirling song, i stood
silent
staring at the black
empty chair.

~

RNH

only a giraffe

there was no elephant in the room this time
only a giraffe
there was nothing to hide, no secret
to keep
only something so tall
it almost hit its head on the ceiling
the love, reeling
god still telling the joke
about how a horse and a cow and the strangeness
of life made it so beautiful
it almost hurt to walk away.

~

RNH