Sideways Glances

seldom choices linger in the catastrophe of our happiness. we struggle to remember places we've never been. the moment stiffens. we feel in the darkness for that switch. imagining we could ever see. or had ever crossed that quaking bridge.

the scab opens. the blood rushes out. the world tumbles in. we grin and chase the stitches. unwilling to heal.

he whispers of monsters inside himself. vandals and thieves wage their conflicts under his skin. he is weak. fragile. like a soldier. hungry like a whore.

the pieces reach out. connecting at their jagged corners. defeating the math. but losing the war.

she names the edges. negotiating with the apocalypse. choices suffocate. bridges shiver. she kisses the wind. and it beats her.

the world arrives like rubber bands. stretched thin. ready to snap. she measures the distance in broken zippers and random stop signs. it was never so far as when she went looking for it.