Two Dead Lovers

June 3rd, 2025

One good day
Couldn’t last until night
A dead relationship
Gave up the fight
Backs to each other 
They grew apart
Took a sword
Through each other’s heart
And no police man
Could stop the crime
There were no arrests
And no facing time
If you can’t believe
This story is true
Know it wasn’t about me
I wrote this for you

Note: The start of this year I was working on self discovery and healing from the past. I’ve been writing for twenty-five years, and I was thinking about what attracted me to poetry. The two poems I memorized in my childhood were the poem in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and one that has many variations that have been used with no known author. This version of the poem is what was in my head while I wrote this:

One fine day in the middle of the night

Two dead boys got up to fight

Back to back they faced each other

Drew their swords and shot each other

A deaf policeman heard the noise

Ran over there and shot those boys

If you don’t believe my lie is true

Ask the blind man, he saw it too

The Stranger With Your Name

May 22nd, 2025

I saw your name on the profile
In October’s midnight hours
Then the pictures weren’t of you
But your name still had powers
I decided to swipe right
I saw no harm in that decision
Then I froze in place
Like my heart took an incision
It wasn’t because it matched
We did but I didn’t engage
It’s what I couldn’t believe
On the very next page
There you were
Your photos and name
Even after two years
Your profile still looked the same
I sat in my feelings
The emotional weight
From your name to you
Like some twist of fate
I took another chance
As I slid your photo right
And froze to the statement
That triggered fight or flight
It said it’s a match
Two profiles back to back
Again holding off on messaging
And feeling the draw back
Something new
And something old
Feeling the weight
Of the decision I hold
Looking back at that night 
Now that my heart’s out of danger
Wondering why I never messaged
The other stranger

Differential Settlement

May 20th, 2025

I’m deconstructing a house
Removing every layer and brick 
Searching for the foundation beneath
Causing everything to unstick
Figuring it out now  
The house was built wrong
Remodeling or changing tenants
Wasn’t the problem all along
Because that first layer
Didn’t know how to stay
With every earthquake
It just chips away
So I need to start over
Uncover the mystery 
Thirty-two years 
Holds a lot of history