right
you like
her smile's bright
skin's tight
and she's chesty

Swipe
left
he's hefty
his nose, a balloon
like a Flintstone cartoon

Swipe
for a match
to land a catch
there's a rolling batch
of new pictures to

Swipe
like a line dance
to the left
to the right
did he use a filter
or is he a bodybuilder?

Swipe
your future is in your finger
Mary Ann or Ginger?

and he's the *****. He stuck out
like a toe with gout, red and round
with a swollen head. I turned him so
often, he lost his thread. I wanted to

hang my portrait on him. But I gave
my life to him. The picture didn't fit
the frame. The wall cracked and the plaster
chipped. And the shank sunk in

like it had been clipped. A silver spot
looking like a dime that had no purpose
and had no rhyme. I couldn't pull him
out. He was stripped. And so was I.

a dewdrop clinging to a leaf.
I'm a pearl that has grown teeth.
You plucked me from a rosy bloom,
tore me right from mother's womb.

I'm not a present, a box you wrap,
or a breast, a pheasant under glass.
Not a paper doll you cut out
with scissors along the dotted line.

I'm sleek and sweet as wine.
Not one to wilt and wither.
Not a piece of broken feather fluff
you stuff into a cotton pillow.

I'm not a floating cloud to billow.
Not a marionette rolling in sweat.
I'm a woman, fierce and strong.
not a pair of legs in a satin thong.

sharper than a straight razor
one slip and she's slit
like the joker's smile
bleeding on the bathroom tile

His teeth coated in sugar poison
A box to keep his toys in
in the throes of passion
love you cannot ration

His lips dip south
hair caught in his mouth
death in a wet wine kiss
guess he was remiss

I ****** out of the hose
of my crimson carpet. This time
I'll part with it. All the dust bunnies
and planted soil that glittered just

like foil is now a clump
of smokeless ash heading towards
the trash. With the cookie crumbs
and lies I built a fort up to

the skies. Mangled hair and fleas
made me wince and sneeze. Broken
glass and spilled perfume curled up in a
Bissell womb. The fibers growing

limbs big as Mount Washington! I bagged
it all, cells of skin and lime, tin and
turpentine, nails and shards, a landfill from
discard. Pebbles and rocks/days of hopscotch.

like the old coupon
in your top desk drawer
the one you forgot to bring
to the store
we could have saved a lot if you did
we paid for this more than we should

We Expired
like your red pollo aftershave
the one I gave you many Christmas's past
that you didn't open till yesterday
and now gives you a rash
like a port-wine stain

We Expired
like curdled milk
in lumps bumping inside
the gallon in the fridge
smelling sour
as the pus draining from
poking my pimple in the shower

We Expired
like carrion
on the side of the road
with the stomach and
intestines laid out
and the tongue sticking
between the teeth
like a dead plank of wood
on the beach

rising like yeast up the old oak
tree. Springing like a slinky to maul
the metal cage, clinging to it
like words on a page. Gobbling all

the feed till he shakes out
most of the seed to the ground. So,
the bunnies have a meal next time
they come around. I fixed ones

with traps but the beast finds
his way between the gaps. I placed
a teeter-totter dome over the top
so, he'll wobble and fall. But he doesn't

stop!  He shakes and shimmies
like chocolate jimmies on an ice cream
cone dipping headfirst inside the bowl. It's war!
I swore I'd save the seeds and kernels

of corn for the robin's baby born.  He has
the acorns to himself!  Greedy gut has
the fattest tail and ****. And the beadiest
eyes I've seen. And he's downright mean!