Please let go of me
I told you that
I didn't like the way you held
onto the letters that I wrote.
I cannot see you, but I feel
you in my sleep with all
my words--a blanket that
I use to hide myself.
You pull the sheets, my words
for warmth. And I pull back.
Those words meant more
to me than you.
The dragonfly was drooling
Because it caught
A hundred dot-like flies
In the swimming pool.
The swimming pool was angry
Because it was covered
With the tiny pin-pricks
Of a hundred dot-like flies.
The dot-like flies were dancing
Because they loved
The tossing waves
Of the angry swimming pool.
Bubbles pop
In the rain,
See-through globes
Of colored soap,
Like islands
That vanish
In the waves
I decided to
Eat myself up
So that I would
Disappear
That's why you can't
Find me.
The candy jewels
You gave me
Melted in my
Hands, I didn’t know
You wanted me
To eat them.
But how could I?
Those beautiful
Reflections of your
Soul, I covered
Protected
In my palms
Held back and never
Let go
And so you gently
Dissolved
Disappeared
Into me, but now
I can't see you.
The green circle monster wore a pink tutu
While he danced, traipsing around
In oval shapes with pointed toes.
The black oval ghost wore a white mask
While she slept, floating towards
The midnight sky with angel wings.
The round olive dragon wore a diamond cap
While he waited, snarling beside
The fire pit with flaming breath.
I wanted more sunshine in my life, so I painted my house yellow. I planted rows of sunflowers and batches of yellow zucchini in my garden. I lay down a yellow brick path that led to my bronze plated doorknob. My house was so yellow that you couldn't help but smile when you opened the door. I was spinning in my yellow sundress and twirling with my gold earrings. I ate bananas and popcorn and pineapple and peaches. I had stacks of yellow post-its where I wrote lists of yellow things with my lemon-scented crayons. And then one day, I received a blue package in the mail. I was startled. I opened up the blue box, and a blue butterfly flew out into my yellow palace. I chased the butterfly trying to catch it in my hands. I ran in circles, climbed up trees, stood on tables, and crawled on my knees. I tried so hard to remove the fluttering misfit from my life. Each time I got close, the butterfly would skim gracefully through my fingers. I unwillingly let the outlier stay. He danced and fluttered and brought me a yellow rose. I slowly grew to love this soft blue spot of compassion against my perfect yellow walls.
I saw my image in the glow of the fire. The flame flickered as I disappeared and reappeared. I came and went with each heartbeat. I was here, gone, here, there. I exhaled and the flame flinched backwards then forwards. It lunged towards me and grew bigger. My image became darker and stronger. I could feel myself getting weaker as the flare glowed more intensely. I inhaled and the heat of the fire raged through my lungs. I was warm with fear. I started melting towards the ground in submission to the flame that now towered over me. I curled into a ball with my head on my knees. The black shadow emerged from the flame and rested on top of my rounded spine. I could feel the heaviness of my second self drowning in towards me. I knew the image that escaped from the flame, and now she burned inside of me.
I received a green box for my birthday. I opened it up, and it was empty. The inside walls of the box were so dark that it absorbed my soul. I pulled away but the black force was stronger than my will power. My neck curled down and my body shriveled into a little ball as I rolled into the dark container. I morphed into a transparent mass of feelings drifting inside my new vacant surroundings. I floated around transitioning from one feeling to the next. As I moved, I swept up more feelings inside of me. I was overwhelmed with emotions that could not be contained in such a small space. I started to spill over the walls and spread into the air. I grew larger and more expansive as the feelings swelled up through my skin. I filled the room like an invisible haze that spread into every empty space. I dominated the air swirling around with hundreds of feelings. I spiraled faster and faster like a tornado until all the feelings got sucked back into the box and the lid snapped shut. The inside of the box remained black and empty. The feelings vanished, and I went with them.
I looked into the mirror and I saw myself dissolve. I disappeared into a faint white fog. I stared harder into the glass and I began to come back. I was wrapped in a soft pale red. I reached out to touch myself and the color melted through my hand. I wanted more and I grabbed the red wrap and pulled it out from the mirror. I wrapped the delicate scarf around my shoulders. I felt calm and beautiful. I looked into the empty mirror and I started to see a darker red forming with hard edges. It was the color of deep red wine. I poked it gently and it stained my fingers. The blood red shadow quickly spread along my arm. I shook my arm to get the color off and finally the bleeding stopped. I was startled. I looked into the mirror again and I started to reappear. I stepped backwards desperate for one red and afraid of the other at the same time. I turned around and walked away with a blanket of love around my shoulders hiding the burns of anger on my arm.