the bends.

I probably shouldn’t have

kissed your mouth, but

distances kept disappearing

I could hear the path of

your eyes tracing

my hands and legs,

my lungs exhaled

their grasp on death,

a former life I clutched

for so many wasted years

you said I seemed aloof

about my drawings

pieces of myself crammed

inside of a box

abandoned and crumpled

you said I was beautiful

and it was just too intense

for a fleeting second, I thought

I should make you leave

© 7.1.13 heather brager

hostage.

I heard you on the stairs
so many nights
stumbling after midnight
the shadows of your demons
proceeding you,
scaling the walls
creeping across our bedroom floor

they don't live here anymore.

no, I am not afraid.
though I carry your words
in shattered pieces
close to my heart,
fragments that I am
slowly plucking away

© 6.24.13 heather brager 

tenuous.

down a cobblestone street

near Strong Avenue

he pauses to look over his shoulder

at a tender distraction

her soft ass and trendy glasses

she smiles near the corner

waiting for a faithful lover

*

I am just a porous heart

several bent vertebrae

carrying the weight

rarely contiguous

to the whole truth

never quite absolute

just pain and wanting

© 6.18.13 heather brager

a second death.

tide has obscured
the bagged body
black plastic swaying
in foaming salt and bile
among the rocks
caught numb and helpless
near the end of the pier
the frayed cord around
a powerless neck
hung in the current

© 6.10.13 heather brager

blessing. curse.

bulwark stops me dead.
solace seeks a certainty

stop,
         drop,
                     roll,
Repeat.

the truth.

he cannot
evade time
an insect to the light

          an insect to the light

with his words
he glares her in the eye
pinning her mind
to the wall
she struggles
to keep her
feet on the ground

the caustic breath
of fear hovers
and draws the
shades tight

she is forced to wear
a borrowed burqa
she is an orange bird
outside the
dusty glass


© 5.14.2013 heather brager 

genomes.

life is a journey
under seas and over cliffs
results are the same

© 5.6.2013 heather brager