A waltz:

Good morning, lovely.
I see you've assumed a new
Hostility,

Clenched
Your fists against the bent world
And thrust yourself
From the depths of dark,
Bearing florescent beams
And bleached white,

All the more prolific.

Your silence speaks volumes.
I find myself leaning
On styrofoam waves.
The wires all crossed,
Scapegoats named,
And we remain

Estranged.

Your smile
Flattened
To a tense line.

Straight edge.
Straight mind.
I wind.


--Alicia (2011)

Tense, past

You taper the edges
Of your honest words
As I
Stare at the blank wall behind.

But there was something
In the syntax there:
"I was. I thought."


--Alicia (2011)