Infants

Her future lies

within stretched-out flesh;

swollen stomach,

flushed and red.

small face puckered,

met with light

sapphire irises;

cataclysmic delight.

Tossing, nudging

all over now

fumbling limbs

pushed up; out.

a scream, a whine

heart, fluttering fast

the writhing, the dribbling,

the tailbone shifting.

existence, anew

in weary palms

tumbles velvet-white skin;

Loud, gushing smiles.

Once in her hands, it all

seems so close

eyelids locked tight

to the stars.

fingers decorate a perfect, round face

innocently blinking; holding him tight

it is his time, his days just beginning

Possibilities; yet to unfold.

logarithms

we write

and we test and we struggle

it’s trial and error, always trial and error

nibbling our pencils, scuffing our shoes

we wipe our brows and look at the floor.

.

I frown, I mutter

trying over and over

but to me, he is blank

there is never an answer.

.

smudged eraser marks left on the page.

I refuse to look; get rid of my work.

tears accompany me home.

I let them slide down my face.

.

I shake myself, it was useless

there was no need to even try

it just seems so insignificant

so many problems;

i failed again.

.

relationships that do not build

are unsolvable logarithms

like math,

they are complex;

some have no answer.

o c t o p u s

i have realized that i’m no one,

i’m nothing but an octopus

i swim away, i’m frantic

i’m caught for the last time.

.

my fight is never-ending,

limbs stretching/ trembling/ tearing

in every which direction;

thrown in again, i’m flawed.

.

i struggle against nets,

tight, confounding strings

i whimper/ i am cut

white, razor-sharp threads.

.

my fat rips, like rubber

floating, deathly wounds

ghost trails in the ocean,

i try to just survive.

.

and then, it is all bright

i am out, oh i am free!

clammy hands and rugged feet

they step on me, they trample.

.

but i am discarded,

back to endless waves

the white foam; frothing/  fighting

i’m drowning, i am strangled.

.

in water, i am lost

i am shaken/ i am open,

flailing, i am writhing

in a sea of thirsting fish