16/30

Even before you were able
To fully emerge
From your protective cocoon
Of baby fat
And pastel pink swaddling
There were grown men
Lusting
Testing strength of all manner
Of tether and chain link
Compromising boundaries
Constructed to keep you out
Of harms way
More than an arm's length worth
Of laws were enacted
To protect your flesh 
From paws and fangs
But these men
Can't rest properly
Until they have 
Touched you innappropriately

They were choking themselves
On their collars
Jumping their fences, rabid
Once they picked up
Cotton candy scent of girl
Fluttering above the baseline
Of a tattle tale breeze
They couldn't stop the razors
In their mouths
From flashing
Couldn't extinguish
A growl sparking
In the back of their throats

Tragic endings in our
Ugliest folklore never 
Hinted at this manner of savage
Didn't paint images of the broken bodies
Young women will be trapped in
After they have been hunted
We were unaware that a child
Could elicit such a reaction
Never knew female 
Could cause
Such a frenzy
Just by being born

Little girls don't understand
Anything about "sexy"
A language
Foreign and unnecessary 
Stilt legs, uncoordinated 
8 pm bedtime sleepy eyes
And breath with
The stench of milk
Clinging to new teeth
Like a memory

Even before you were able
To fully emerge 
From your protective cocoon
Of baby fat 
And pastel pink swaddling
There were men imagining
All of your private parts
Laying awake, waiting for you
Enginering erections in your honor
When your mother hadn't even
Decided what she wanted to
Call you
Claiming you
Before you knew
Who you were
They have scheduled your abduction
Timed it according to
Your birthday
The pulse of their footsteps
The amount of times they knocked
Before the door swung open
How often they looked
In the neighbor's window
Before the urge grew too wild
To wrangle
A chapter and a verse
Some other arbitrary number
Anything to attribute meaning
Justify everything wrong
They will blame you
When really
It's what they wanted to do
Long before you 
Stopped believing in Santa Claus

There isn't a chord in a song
That flips the undisturbed switches
When played in reverse
There is no camera angle 
In a film scene that lights 
A psychological fuse
There is no magnet in the well
Of your belly
You are not a star
Collapsing into itself
You simply
Didn't know your period
From a comma
Confused it for a tadpole 
In Times New Roman type face
Wedged between words
To slow the pace 
Of a run on sentence
That you did not co-author
You cannot pump the breaks
When your feet won't 
Reach the petals
Your mother's womb
Was no green house
So, no wonder you never got 
A chance to bloom
Sunlight didn't get ahold of you
Before an uncle's hands did
We can't handle it
Adults expect you to know as much
As they do
When you are not yet ready 
For these lessons

On a standardized test
You were asked to
Classify the part of speech
Under which the word "preditor" falls
You had no answer
And we respond with 
More than an arm's length worth
Of laws, illequipped to catch you
Tight roping alone 
You navigate the long walk home, 
Daily
While vultures halo
Over your head
A slow moving mobile
Above the cradle of a middle school 
Playground and soccer field
It is 2 pm 
And you are not even 
Dead, yet

15/30

If you believe that
death is the worst possible 
fate, you're in trouble

14/30

When fucking no longer
Coincides with laundry day
And whether or not
I have shaved my legs  
Your palms, familiar
With my stubble
And all manner of unkempt 
It seems you have not paid attention
To much of my imperfect
Us, unclothed 
Limbs and torsos
Piled on top of
Sheets that we have tinted
Our particular shade of human
Comfortable
We sure do know how 
To un-make a bed
Those pillows never stood a chance
So smart,
The comforter threw itself 
On the floor
When it saw us
Stumbling in
Blinded by eachother
Connected at the lips
I wonder
Do your strings quiver
In a manner similar
To the shake of my thighs
When I am walking to
The bathroom naked?
Will the dimples in my hips
Become a lyric?
Have you uncovered a song
In the basement of my spine?
You know,
The spot touched by you
So often
The flesh has molded
To the curve of your fingers
My birthmarks
Indistinguishable from
Your handprints
I admit
I have found
Poems in your eyes
I keep myself busy 
Trying to  transcribe them 
Everyday, I am rebuilding myself
Into a home for you
A fresh coat of paint
And well kept
Somethin' pretty for you to
Look at
'Cause you deserve 
All manner of fancy
That I can afford
Every luxury that I 
Can offer
All the amazing
I can manufacture
All of the food 
That I can cook
Stay here
If you ignore the stubble
On my legs
We can wash the laundry
Together
Sheets that we have tinted
Our particular shade of human
Vivid
You've got a smile 
That I did not have to earn
We have heirloom hearts
That still kick
Listen.
In the middle of 
All of this mess
You do not need permission
To love me thoroughly

13/30

What is the Return Policy
On Human Beings?

I met you on my
birthday. If you were my gift
I need that receipt

12/30

We walk into the place
Smelling like sex
Talking too loud
Looking like love
All kinds of colored
No one needs to hold hands
We talk with ours
No one knows their sun signs
We are stars
We, animals
Sequined eyes and feathers to match
A flock of angels
Out for the night
Too much living 
Collected under our nails
Got us restless
We have seen enough moons 
To tell you all about the waves
We make our own history
We ain't chasing shit
We just spin these webs and chill
Look pretty
And wait
For something to come along
Fat enough
To sink our teeth into

11/30

What I really want
to say is the thing I should
never write

10/30

He says it was 
The extra 10 pounds
Your smart mouth
The new way you decided 
To wear your hair
How you lopped it all off
Loc'd it all up
Took the weave out
With no care or concern
As to what his preference might be
The fact that you ain't keep 
A clean house
But your shit was always messy
And he knew that from jumpstreet
Clutter on the coffee table
Didn't keep him
From putting his feet up
On that bitch
So let's be more realistic about
What is and isn't his own
Personal problem, versus your 
Predisposition toward imperfection 
In all things
Ask him why he doesn't 
Address the actual issue
Why he will pick and choose 
Which of your traits are acceptable
And what he can't tollerate
A man with a God complex
Would rather create a mate
Than find one
Maybe you two
Should date other people
Since it is apparent
That you can't live up
To his standards
Either that 
Or lay down
So you can get 
On his level