special occasions

my knees burn against the carpeting

pulling delicate pieces of china dishes from the cabinet

laced with gold rims and flowered engravings

shoved away for special occasions

for forks to scratch their surfaces

to smear icing and drip with crumbs

until they are pushed so far back

filed like memories in the back of my mind

i could forget they were even there

the years shelved with antique wood

auburn like the crisp air

that hosted eight individuals

for meals around tables

full of loud conversations and sated stomachs

the plates now serve four

the lacking presences vibrant in the dining room

adding inches of dust to the crystal glasses

that were once clinked together in celebration

summer reflection

i could fall asleep peacefully out here the sweet wind gently turning pages of my writing the words grazing my warm skin blanketed in bright sunlight the shadows of the petals fill the background of my poems enveloping their beauty yet disappearing in the presence of clouds this is the first of many days where i will lay my chin against the wired table where the dog will scratch indecisively at the door where the calm, consistent songs of birds will coax my eyes shut where the gorgeous earth will invite my creativity and my comfort

everything is muffled

I keep trying to pull my ends together like tying shoestrings as a child but the laces are too short i watch the destruction transpire through blurred lenses the mascara stains like watercolor mistakes everything i have shoved so far beneath has been muffled a slight murmur in the distance incomprehensible to anyone tonight, i hear it all so loud, so clear an orchestra playing right against my ears it's deafening the result of countless months forcing tribulations into treasure chests until they can hold nothing more the lids burst open their contents erupting replacing my blood with anguish