I -V

[Ruth]

I
3am

there is someone
in here
dying
it's 3am, and I
need to hear
sunlight
you, hours wealthier,
step off into
your life
the blackness between
your words
will not hold time
curled
within it - I
listen for breathing.


II
continuum

inside
I waited for rules
to change
-time is dripping somewhere in a cave-
(Do Not drink the
black drops)
love?
you were in love with it
(it tasted of quinine
dipped in too much sugar)


III
space

a heart holds
enough blood to
flow
evenly across
a kitchen table
before turning
black
(you never wrote this down)
in the space beside speech
you can
hold smooth
cold stones
collected, I
wear them in a sac
around my neck
they weigh the same as time.


IV
patterns of engagement

number one
embrace bleeding
learn to love
sticky sweetness
this is how snow
feels to a daffodil
french kissing
cold with hot
fuck this.
blood in snow feels
beautiful
the velvet of black
roses
is absolutely edible.


V
infinity

metaphorically speaking
my murder will
be misunderstood
it will be enough to say
it's hour
was infinite
like the taste of
chocolate
kissed from your tongue
in solitude.