Lilac Dove

Me, carnations that are wilting
Without you
Next to me
The fear-mongering outside
The paste-making tear dolls
Capturing you in your best light
Afraid of what darkness is
Your brightest hope
Gone in the daylight
Give it some time

You, attached to all that is holy
Flannel fleece jacket that I found warm
Those nights you let me have
Gifts in boxes, wrapped so pretty
Push my hair behind my ear
Wrap my silk scarf around my brain tight
A missed delight
The race is on
Move forward

Knives carving edges in what we are
What we used to be
More fear-mongering
Tasting the cake before it’s ready
You telling me things about my writing
Looking up when laughing
Carnations coming back to life
Flower food that works its magic
Stellar reviews on Amazon
Brick old fiction that you find charming
A steady pace will win this race
Calm and everlasting
To be, that

I think
You are
Crazy
And
I kind of
Like it

Spike it
Hammer to the ground
Lost and found
Etch and sketch
Little miss made-up
Audrey Hepburn princess
That type of nice

Cool bag of ice
Tall boys seem nice

The pressure’s thick
Lay it on
I’m tired of your games
I want you to misbehave
I want you to say my name

It’s an underachievement to leave me unattended
And alone
Prone to miscalculation
Cash, quick and loan
Money and fast cars
A refusal for a date
Because I’m thinking of someone else

Tall boys seem nice

She’s out in the back
Gardening
Where memories detach
When times were once peaceful
When things came alive
Back then

At dinnertime
Calling each other names
Exploitative for the two of us
Silent expressions
Like combat in hidden tempers
Don’t you remember

Could you have sworn
You remembered his name
One, step. Two, step
Full chamber orchestra
Mercedes GLA 250 parked outside
Your call

Dial-tone

Me and your alcoholism
Don’t seem to mix
Like candlelit bricks
Versace heels
Split in half
Men’s perfume on my sweater
I find myself pure
And I’m not interested in your thoughts

For right now
It’s pure bliss
The carnations grow in the right directions
And I have my hair in a ponytail
You tell me my blush looks nice and pink
Saturated like the sun
Less than heavy like the eclipse we saw last week

Okay pretty girl, you soothe me
In ways that I find a bit refined
And partially reduced in such a way
But I’ll take it
If it comes from you
I’ll take it

Like a silver moon
Like morning dew

I walked past the store and saw some carnations
Thought of how frustrating it is
That you and me don’t share enough about ourselves anymore
Or really as much as I’d like to

And I felt on that dazzling Spring day
The most bitter of delights
The midpoint between wanting to be in your presence
And wanting my own independence
And I’m sure that won’t come out right

I left my doubts in Virginia
At Smith Mountain Lake
Where the mountains cascade to the water
And I come up for air, crisp and smooth
Forever thinking of you

Forever drowning in you
And it’s glistening