JHem

  PROLOGUE I. FOLKLORE II. GIANT WALKERS III. WHYTE RAIN CLOUDS IV. WHISPERING LIPS V. KILLING A GOD VI. CATHING THE EYE VII. TWIN-TAILS VIII. RUMOR-MILL IX. RESTITUTION X. AN ISLAND UNTO ONESELF XI. HEAVEN'S GREEN LAKE XII. RUBY'S RESOLVE XIII. LOVER'S LIME XIV. PREDISPOSITION XV. PROOF OF ROYAL BLOOD XVI. HEAVENLY XVII. FEATHERLESS WINGS XVIII. HIGHER FORCE XIX. RUBY WHYTE EPILOGUE

Such pace let my lips get caught in a trance. Striking until the room became unsafe to enter. Sparks would fly until outlines were lost in a heatwave. With the tragedy of no match caught in flames. Mind me for seeking excitement with words such as wish, Anxiety for the tension that hover over insincere flirts. Asking me to distinguish a tease from a lie? Cornerning me to ask, "who am I?" Crossing yes and no to convince a naughty or nice list. I let my tongue brush against the aftertaste of sin. To give reason for my chest to make its voice heard. But pleasure got my eyes soft in ignorance. I could tell you all the reason for this chase. Belief told my hunger to quell with haste. I was pulled in by seductive hands. Pushed by no desire to commit. Equilibrium by face to cement. My head found its center laying on your lap. Shoulders loosen from hands brushing my cheek. Like you gave me reason to believe it'll be okay. Words from before me screamed, "This is for those who

Generations before put sight to paper, Newborns are gifted to bring anew. Cycles bring sunrise to light the dark. When did growth become grew? People in scriptures left their mark, At the cost of letting discovery taper.

Lightning kicked my feet off the ground. Common sense scolded me to go right. But the thumps in my chest poked a hole, Allowing God to grab me by the heart. Little whispers begin to say, "This is for the greater good." Little melts in my ache gave way. No need to be bound by "should." If self-care stood tall, Call upon me, vanity. Clench your fist, sanity. "Only the selfish fall." Splashes of red trailed behind me To cover the shadow showing clearly. Could I let go of the answer, To let the clouds part forever?

Blooming amidst the setting sun, Flames burnt scars against my chest. Love became the healing oasis, yet... Strawberries pierced through my veins, From tingling lips knocking me over. Bringing all of me to my knees. Empty space devoured me whole-y Until vanity of you became solely. Transgression lit up my unholy. The clouds let themselves free. I let God's judgement wash over me. As my heart missed the mark hastily. I had faith my eyes let me see, So how did toxins become my lover? I cleanse my pupils by sinking them in rain. Is karma the reason for my debt? Is it not enough to be my best? Is this my will being undone?

Despair set my heart on disengage As I spoke to the mirror, "no." Letting little lies slip on automatic, Authentic sounded like magic. Flowers decorated my home's chain Like the smiles stickered over disdain. No way to fall if I drowned myself below. Underwater modesty became my sage. Finding myself in you made me insane, Like a storybook penned for tragic. Lonely gave me a ticket to absence, A place with flames burning dictionary. Imagination wrote my life, Cravings drew me to addiction. Life became written fiction, Until words met the knife. The unknowledgeable looked scary, Aloneness washed in the cleanse. Heartbreak shattered all the rules, Replacing being right with the fool.

With a little call for comfort, Your words drew me Nier. Nature's pillow settled here. Rumblings arose loving fights, Under the Night feelings gave flight, To sweat plastered bangs on your face. A letter from me to you, A request by emotional stew. I dipped my words with upmost grace, Heat to bring in steam boiling tight. With hearts to melt into flirt. Like a fish entranced by a ray of light, You came with me through the night. When "shoulds" overcame inner right, I pulled you in, showing you alright.

I had my head telling me where to go, A thought formed like a bubble, Easy to come, easy to blow. I had the judge put you through court, With enough logic for all to be distort, But my body couldn't launch like a shuttle. There was an argument brewing here, I wanted nothing more than to feel again. My heart took center stage. Welcomed into the newage.  It told me to follow the sage. But I caved in from the wish for a kiss. I had arms surrounding me for carnal bliss. Rhyme and rhythm got sincerity to dismiss. I let congruency take away shame. As I cleansed it all to be who I am. I let a force unbeknownst to me, To rattle me up and take me to the unseen. Like letting God take me by the hand, My faith grew with my humility. The chit chat became friendly, Engaged by warming up steam. No longer dipping myself in sin, I became one with the wind.

An experience of a lifetime brought me to, Four signpost to remembering my dignity, With eight ways to get somewhere beyond To help me off the rats wheel over here. Only for me to notice my own obliviousness.

With three words to entice me, I make up all sorts of blasphemy. Why would you call forth the unlucky? No costume here would fit Halloween. Not enough to let my skin wear bare. So I went as the monster kept hidden. Who I saw everytime I passed a mirror.

I have trick or treaters past Halloween. With kids in costume in the hot summer. And the wise masked for the sake of wisdom. I give a warm little trickle, With no eyes bat against a treater  A witches pot unnoticed in simmer. Like the earthquake keeping me calm, I follow the lines on my palm, Seducing using nothing but lip balm. Let a knife to your eyes so keen, Clarity will let us all be seen, A declaration from the dean.

You give yourself a little twist, A new angle to hide in mist. Only the copy shows off bliss, With you stuck in remiss. But you're afraid of the camera head on Like being afraid of seeing your own con. Let the sun come over and bring forth dawn. I place my hand home on my heart, Hoping you're not too far gone.

My fingers inscribed holy words for you, As you drove 100 miles to claim taboo. With whispers too quiet for the wall's ears, You strut yourself as if you knew no fears. I let limerence slip through the grapevine, With each gift you impart in kind. But storybooks can only breathe so well, You pleaded me to show, not tell. I searched my mirror to find why you left, Not noticing I long ago became deaf.

My arms paddle air, Reaching to hold on. My mind declares, To mask like a con. Speaking about true, Giving all things name. But my body moves to you, Embracing everything insane. Give me a million reasons, Why this is genuine despair. Our fingers interlock, Putting a stop to the clock. With a chest racing rush, We're both pulled in as such. Arms wrapped around you become art, Like fingertips embracing your heart.

Everytime I found a new leaf, Everytime I went to the uncharted, Everytime I let myself crawl out of comfort, I left many footprints to show for it. Everytime I cried from your rejection, Everytime I lost myself in another, Everytime I receded back into myself, I made a safe haven to show for it. Everytime I felt my heart break, Everytime I had a new bruise, Everytime I grazed the razors edge, I had a mark to show for it. Everytime I let my wings be seen, Everytime I made home with the flora, Everytime I basked in the sun's kiss, I knew I blossomed into a butterfly.

I gave a blue stroke for each blink. Feet fighting against the current. My chest breathed all into sync. I knew why diety's had monuments. I wore gloves to protect my hands, As to pull away all feeling. They were to keep me clean, As I removed the grime. When I held time close to my head, I no longer felt your fingers. As you explored my lips with a kiss, I got lost searching for its meaning. I whispered before midnight in bed, Is this what it's like to be dead? Each embrace had me on the top, But it's cold shroud got me to drop. I had eyes beyond what I could see. It wasn't until the end of my lifetime, I knew rain brushed my window.

I'll walk with my hands out, Giving them away to passerby's. An arm up from dew. I know no other than true. Scandals whisper for clout. Mirrors show where they lie. With a heart left on empty, I embrace it fully. I make pray a wish to avoid my inevitable, I embody my heart in ways heard in fables. See a heart broken open, Even when your words show their back, My home has boundaries for you to listen, But the door is never closed for your return.

I buy into your words, I'm sold on your dreams, But my feet go the other way, Like a tree rooted in dirt. Of all the things I say I crave, My arms stay beside my hip. I pray for what I wish what may. The lies I eat are one hell of a trip. I have my hands covering my face, A raincoat to cover up falling rain. You can see my head lean in forward, But my eyes never leave the ground. My hands bump on rocky paper, Letters made by my blade cut to my heart, Inked with my blood are letters to you, But they go unopen like my eyes.

Whispers on my lips could never show you. I got a million words to communicate, But falling flat on my face broke down my faith. Oh, what is a broken heart to do? I walk a lifetime in dirty shoes, But I can't seem to take them off. I've got endless ideas to share brand new, But what if nobody wants to show to my lieu? I turn on my head wishing you'd reciprocate, But by the time I fall in bed it's too late. No one cares to enter my gate. All I give are but empty pleas, Feels like I'm stranded out at sea, Just open your eyes and tell me you see, Why don't you show up for me? You write me a book filled with romance, You tell me you love me to get a dance, You've mastered words by saving face, But not once have I fallen in your embrace.

I heard whispers at the top. Arguing to be completely sane. I've been caught inside a dream. With feet running a central fiction. I didn't even begin to see, I left aftershocks around me. I was left in the fissure, As my valor ventured forward, To light a fire to keep warm, By gazes hiding their scorn. It became my home, Of seeing through a whole, With only a microscope. Seeing the mirror belittled, It fit right into my palm, For me to crush. You impart your wisdom to dance, But your feet never touch the floor.

Three days since the clock became a speeding snail; it's been three days since Joseph's divorce. Bound by the grimy takeout pizza boxes and the floor with apple juice stains, Joseph was quite certain his life was becoming an ouroboros of one bad day devouring another. It's unusual for him to be awake so late in the morning at 7:20 AM, let alone him dwelling on his life so soon of the sun rising on a Saturday. Joseph has been a morning person for the past 18 years since his last two years of high school, waking at his usual 5 AM. Today, just like yesterday and the day before, he's stayed awake past his normal 9 PM shuteye; an hour that made his ex-wife, Emily, feel extra lonely as she browsed through social media until the early AM to numb out her menial life. Joseph was unshaken when his wife wanted to no longer spend another day with him, but when the divorce was final, he couldn't grit his teeth at night any longer.  The first thing Joseph saw when he found the st