candy bracelet

how dare you
make me feel loved
(tears drip onto blank page
memories of a big girl singing
jazz a cappella in a back-lit
brooklyn walk-down summer
night hazy from burning flowers
the clear voice a conviction of
the spirit wrapped in a candy
bracelet given sanctuary from
persecution in the holy cloud
mortal cloud the way all things
ultimately point in one direction)
i was numb and liking it maybe
like is too strong a word but content
no that is apostasy maybe just numb
with an attitude that approximates life
(red-headed smiles cut through the
bullshit holding his hand while it was
still his to offer and the voice rings
reverberating echoing bouncing about
inside the deep longing the soul near
starvation the tiny ship cast broken
upon the rocks of a desperate shore
barren save for the sea shell madness
fragmented piercing her flesh the soft
tender the exposed belly and throat)
i could live happily were I some one other
were I able to leave my heart to rest here
forever