In Gulf

As you toddle like a buoy,
greedy girls scoop shells by the bucketful
and I lie on the sand, blending in.
The cicadas scream in the moss-dripping trees
as Winter clatters in her pool.
Tomorrow the black will ink everything out.

-Heroin-

Enticing poppy,
an unwitting aid,
one vial of your blood
they kill to accrue.

I’ve never felt you
course deep through my veins
yet, my soul's tarnished,
family destroyed.

Damn you, sweet flower,
repossess your gift
that eats from within.

We’ve no want for the
paltry donation
encased in syringe.

Father's Image

My dense brow, cursed hairs
dark with your DNA.

I sit, stare, dare not pluck
a single follicle.

I see the blatant looks;
they don’t ask, but I know

secretly they wonder
why the girl with wild brows

would keep them. But you know,
wherever you may be.

You’ll see my sacrifice:
fashion for loyalty,

looks for love.