semper aliquid novi, 
watching helios break day
watching luna pack up
watching nox fade away.

semper aliquid novi,
will mockingjays crow
our dewy secrets to the grass
while the doorknob creaks ‘go’?

semper aliquid novi,
with my weight against the wood.
i told you that i couldn’t leave,
you told me that i should

semper aliquid novi,
against your back, atone,
mockingbirds keep on crowing,
‘you know you love alone?’ 

semper aliquid novi, 
and its hard hearing you,
say, ‘don’t love me, we won’t be;
there’s always something new.’ 

4/30

watched you churn moonlight into
love last night and i still can’t
believe my eyes. when our flesh
meets, don’t we sound like a
standing ovation? wearing nothing
but leftover lip marks and sunsets,
our bodies applaud each other for
emptying our phantom hearts
and finally starting anew.

on hands, on knees, we meet under lunchroom tables to share
wet mouthfuls of secrets. your ragged voice is ghost & tearstained.
you show me a new scar. i kiss it well. were you up all night?
they wouldn’t stop screaming. rosy handprints warmed your cheeks.
did you bury your ears in the pillow counting sheep like i said
no no no i wanted to stop them no no no i wanted to stop them
i hand you sweets, the red candy melted through the plastic
like leaky bandages. you eat it whole, letting the sugar glaze your sore mouth.
but you couldn’t. we patty cake with sticky fingers. but i couldn’t.

i long for words like spring:
blossoming, undiscovered; 
sticky with virgin wetness.
but we tend to exchange
beaten paths of discourse,
worn with dust. we lap up
rotting words til we choke
them out again, you & me.
don’t you long for something
new? 

if i could carve a new home 
for only you, in me, i would.
if i could kiss new words in
your mouth, i would. i would,
but let’s try and work with
what we got. us. 

Knew a man with an oyster shell as a rib cage with a bleeding, beating pearl that misses me still, plenty still. He had honey dipped bones that would stick to my sheets and a name that I’d chew around like peach pits and unwanted memories

-Naima

(Source: complexxxsimplicity)

i won a writing competition at school today. it isn’t much of a big deal, and i know none of you care or are going to read this, but i really needed the lil ego boost: i’ve been feeling uninspired and untalented lately. here is one of the few pieces i submitted.

Sunbathing

    Do you remember when the seat of your khaki slacks blushed
    because he stole life from your barely swollen belly?
    The color of budding robins in the spring pooled at your thighs,
    the murmur of soft heartbeats silenced out of you.
    Do you know you rock that never born ghost in your arms while you sleep?

    Your blackened eyes are overly ripe peaches against my thumb.
    When you speak, I only hear the crack and split of your lips,
    and the haunted whistle of your stolen tooth.
    “Let’s sunbathe,” you whistle, you crack.

    In the light, you wear fingerprints proudly around your neck like pearls,
    strung from fistfuls of Friday night “falls” and fuck ups.
    Your war veteran collar bones brag about battle scars
    as you sit bare breast under Ra, praising the healing properties of Vitamin D.
    But how will the sun heal a girl who doesn’t mind being broken?

    I miss brushing your soft hair like I used to.
    Are you still tender-headed from when he held you by
    Your ponytail until your feet dangled like chandelier crystals
    and your eyes chinked like milky china dolls
    and your breath got caught in your swollen throat.
    You thought you’d never breathe again.
    I’m starting to believe you’re hoping to suffocate one day.

    Sun’s setting prompts you to stuff what’s left of the graying light in
    your frail, bruised pockets
    To replenish your first aid kit.
    But how will the sun heal a girl who doesn’t mind being broken?

kissing you is always sacred.

early on sundays, our reacquainted
lips chant psalms into our holy places. 

i taste anointing oil whenever our
sin-lined tongues pray together.

armies of hickies, preparing for some
holy war, congregate on your strong neck,

until your entire being becomes scripture 
worshiping u & me.

are we arrogant in the way we praise each other?