the view, taking in you

I.
this breath is like a fucked up puzzle
with pieces spread
mangled and
torn
on a rusted lawn table, the thick
film of
dying white paint
clutching at 
stiff shards
o! you are broken
this twisting
escape going in
every direction, with
movement as if it could
see
as if it could 
move 
move me to throw away 
everything i 
don't want, but keep in
compounded piles
like dirt beneath fingernails
like this rust on living tables
if there were one sweet
release- 
then let me find it
let me find it in 
you

II.
ha, you wondered where 
the time went
well i'll tell you it 
didn't sift
through piles of 
sweet revenge
the learned population's
smothering
weak beat,
work bent
smiles
that unfed
core that
rots so clearly
before us
that twinges so nearly relaying that
message:
you are unborn 
and as parents we shove you back
to the womb
to cradle your
eyes, from everything we
once 
were
becoming lost in 
thought is nearly the only
escape 
from the twelve-step program you
foster to 
kill us before we could
have the chance
to
live.

your silent voice

i read your poem
the one you put in my pocket
and i'm being honest when
i say
i can't tell you
what i thought

i read your poem
with my lazy, sleepy eyes
you told me exactly 
how things were
and i felt
nothing

i'm looking for
the poet
whose inner voice catches my heart
by the sleeve, and 
pulls me under its 
warm coat, on a cold night
i've never had those
sweet moments with you
we can't talk about everything
that ever crossed our minds

i touched your jacket and
brushed your hair from your face,
but i still felt lonely when 
you were there

so i sent you a reply,
on a poem i otherwise would have kept
sacred.