alone

flashback to another place
a different time
folded into myself
haze of drink
wiping away incredulous tears
what i signed up for

not heard
not touched
not held
not loved

alone

and another time
hot tears on a cold bathroom floor
finding comfort in the tile
millipede undulating on the ceiling

alone

after i read his story
fucking that little girl
little girl on an airplane
little girl

her name doodled in his notebooks

he never touched me
he would not touch me

alone

now, hot tears
recoiled, raging
suffering
discontent like a burning smack
how can this be fair
how can this be
how

alone
alone
alone

in a softer moment
in the light of day
in your arms, tightly
i know
it is not true
it is not true.

i am right here, with you
i am okay
i am not alone.

i found magic

in a magical room
we lay on our backs
your hand on my leg
fingers tapping
keeping time with the fan

i turned to you
pressed my face to your neck
held my breath for a long moment
breathed out and uttered it

you rolled over and kissed me hard
magic fell from the ceiling
and gathered inside of me

vocabulary guide

An interesting thing has begun happening here at the Runaway Sentence this week. Google is sending people over here who are seeking help with word usage. So now, I am getting a lot of traffic here from people who searched for "how to use [blank] in a sentence." In the last two days alone, people from around the world sought help with using the following words in a sentence:

accommodating
ambivalent
asparagus
burlesque
demote
earning
escalate
exuberant
futile
misgiving
persist
raucous
reclusive
runaway
settle
uncanny

Who knew there was such a great need for vocabulary help? People, I am here for you. If you are here seeking help with using your words, just let me know. I can be your guide.

And now that you are here, please stay a while. Browse around. Lots of interesting reading and word choices here. Much raucous exuberance. Misgivings, sometimes. All in service of writing and language. All good.

you are my heart

bright star
tomorrow's promise
pages turned

harvest moon
shining moment
lessons learned

almond eyes to swim or drown in
ripe morning breath to inhale as my own
my face in your hair
a hand to hold
i wrap my arms around you and hold tight

tighter
breathe you in

make a wish
to keep you close

you are my heart.

anticipation

high on new connection
intoxicated by unfamiliarity
sharing anecdotes
finding parallels
an opportunity to re-create
presentation
pure anticipation
touching hands
choosing to share
choosing to be someone.

grown up haiku

the kids are asleep
get me to our bed, and quick
let's fuck while we can

you have been so good
i want to do tricks for you
get the camera

from this vantage point
your skinny legs sticking out
wrap them around me

your hands on my ass
pushing, kneading, your big hands
will not fit inside

now we are finished
kiss me, kiss me, i am yours
for all eternity

rock paper scissors

two strong women
full of bravado
exhilarating
seeing ourselves in the other

paper covers rock

we are not vulnerable
we are unassailable
adversity makes us strong

raucous, dynamic
requiring periodic charging
playful, jocular
increasingly dangerous

found a line and crossed it

scissors cut paper
rock smashes scissors

violence begets violence
words spoken in anger
from a place of hurt and pain

thankfully
overtaken by words of love
through the hurt
through the pain
speaking the truth

and the truth is
i see you
you see me

i love you.

hardwick

staying on campus to study
holed up in a classroom
$2.99 pizza and a michelob forty

commerce
privacy
equal protection

distracted, predictably
by the redolence of your hair
and the allure of the cold, hard table

classroom after classroom
i learned to advocate
i never sought habeas corpus

i studied you.

unstoppable love haiku

at last our embrace
crazy beautiful succeeds
red stubborn aching

window flung open
unleashing nascent desire
to bring me to you

in the mist, hair wet
across drowning eyes, kiss me
harder, yes right there

unstoppable love
unafraid, unrepentant
finally arrived

a note of sadness

A poem by my grandmother. Written in 1928, when she was 18 years old.

I love you, dear, as they alone can love 
Who know that just around the corner of a smile
Lie tears; and just beyond the sunshine of a glance
Wait pain and bitter disappointment;
And in the sweetest passage of a song
There lurks a note of sadness.

peas in a pod

four
peas in a pod

four
hearts carrying hearts

squirming wriggling
wrestling giggling

proclaiming victory
inventing history

under the covers
us against the world

ketchup earth

beautiful fire.

the weight

you drove away
with your bureau and that cat

i do not like all cats.

some entrance
hitting town
station wagon heavy
the weight of your possessions
and your choices

why did you take all the rice?

sleepy girl haiku

"mama, rub my back"
i lie with you, noticing
the curve of your hip

imagine you grown
a woman, loving someone
a hand down your spine

brushing back your hair
kissing your little girl cheek
guarding over you

strength, grace, self knowledge
i want for you, and i will
fiercely protect you

memory of chaos

fancy lawyers
first amendment rights
and bad moral character

were nothing, compared to
a twisted bicycle
rain on hot pavement
sending you careening
into a group of children

that child. that mother.

that child.

i had run away
down south
away from you and your needs
silver bells and bare shoulders
country music and truck drivers
nesting on arrival

i sought the ocean
an expanse of pure, unobstructed shore
for healing

on the ferry, a little boy
not unlike you
demanded every attention
demanding
all eyes on the boy
all efforts for the boy
i hated that boy.

the sunset erased all memory of chaos
the adirondack chair cradled my back
the shooting stars absorbed my tears
the wine drowned the noise

for a night. for one night.

in the morning, my obligation
headed north
to care for you.

drowning haiku

the day i met you

avoiding looking in your

dark eyes, lest i drown

i did not know then

your eyes would save me, life ring

tossed before i sank

avatar haiku

late to the party
just saw avatar, i know
i'm a year behind

dr. seuss should know
it's a homage, a paean
uncredited, natch

unless someone like
YOU cares a whole awful lot
heavy moral tale

long lanky bodies
and fantasy animals
funny things abound

beautiful trees
the lorax, butter battle
magical seed pods

oh, james cameron
i think you owe royalties
to the seuss estate