Valiant

her hands tremble
as she pulls back the sheets in the morning
and opens the blinds
laying razor stripes of sunlight across your face
like the darker, rougher lines
across her hidden skin
her hands are shaking
as she cleans up your coffee cups
and lines your books on the shelves
like soldiers.
she has no ink to bleed today
so she sits as her hands vibrate with unformed words
like needles monitoring earthquakes.
the blinds draw the lines of light across the room
following her to the door and back again
to her books and back again
when the letters become too small for her eyes
she can fit seven pens in her hair
at a time.
tonight will be a silent one but she will smile
and so you won't worry
in the bathroom she knocks over the open jar of pills
that measure happiness by milligram
and they spill into the sink.
you find her this way
scooping the mass of damp yellow powder into her hands
trying to salvage what she can.

White Knight

The rain comes in
at midnight
and you are walking
pacing-stop
with your back against a streetlight
and see your bared teeth
reflected
in every raindrop
clean lines define
your personal circle of light
nothing could touch
your certainty
there would always
be something
to fight
black and white
run your thumb down the blade
and cut yourself
on this double-edged irony
you need your enemy
who you are
defined
by who you fight
but all the shadows
wear black trenchcoats
--even you

You rules do not apply here.
Someone should put up a sign
you think
as you deliberately step
on every crack
in the sidewalk
and you can hear the bones
snapping
as you cross the empty street
without looking
pause
to examine
the eyeless rainbow reflection
you leave
in an oil-streaked puddle.

This damsel
does not want you to save her
not some laminated ideal
of feminism-
she has locked herself
in this stone tower
and swallowed the heart-shaped key
--so bitter--
it stuck in her throat
strangled her
as you watched
from behind the glass
you couldn't break.

There is no one
for you to throw down
your gauntlet
in front of
so you clench your fists
and tear yourself apart--
the pieces
of your Lego castles
no longer fit like you remember
and you search everywhere
for the instructions
--how to fix it--
but you lost them
years ago.

I can see your closed eyes
moving
as you toss and turn
in your sleep
if there were monsters
you would fight them-
but what if no one
will let you save them?
the only fear-
what if no one
will let you save them?

The streetlight sputters
flickers
once
twice
three times
goes out.