Melancholy Breath

These overcast mornings

Wrap their acidic arms around me

In burning fumes of industry 

Last night's cigarettes permeate

My hair, I drift quietly through

The stifling air, warm to the touch

How do all the little green things

And new spirits survive here? 

Perhaps they learn to breathe in this world
This shred of dirty existence,

This perfume-bleached, humid stillness

This solitude we have lined with

Screaming horns and crying children

Voices layering together
Close enough I can taste the wet and hot
Excess from the depths of your chest. 

-A.K.-

Coffee

The sacred moment of your gaze
Before the light of dawn softens
Your pupil's depth, soaked in
Whiskey shots last night
At a loud bar on the corner,
Your lips slip into a smile
And I have become a mirror
Of these tender expressions,
Stretch your delicate form,
Graceful night fairy, grant me
This foggy morning wonder---
Steaming coffee I made
Cradled by cold hands.

-A.K.-