Autocrat

fat-hand Autocrat
send boys to secure power—
their blood, your story

Porcelain Beach

Walking along a
porcelain beach that
waves along like a
heartbeat, I look out
and see my progeny.

Do you think he’s
a hypochondriac
like his daddy?

– Tyler Sherwin

Gardenia

I want to tell Gardenia
what to do tonight.
Tell her to grow new Azaleas
and learn how to fight.

I want to tell Gardenia
about the blue moonlight.
Let her know we’ll see years
and it’ll all be alright.

– Tyler Sherwin

Autumn Skin

I see you in the Fall-drenched
mountains and I want nothing
more than to be soaked in you.
I want your autumn hair to
wash over my autumn skin
and soak up the hubris
of my aspirations.

I want to drink the inspiration
dripping from your skin. With you,
I want to feel my cyclical
suffering, but not, for once,
because I hope you can
take it from me.

Instead, as a refreshing change
of season, it’s finally okay to let
darkness lay itself bare.

Knots

Lying in bed, I imagine the small spider on the roof lowering itself onto my lips and crawling into my nose. Up, back, and down my throat it goes, till it reaches a spot it likes and threads a little web. Does web stick to esophagus? If I swallowed food now, would it penetrate the web? Or would I choke and gag while the little spider enjoyed my meal?

The knot in my chest burns again as I stretch my arm above my head. It’s skin cancer. No it isn’t. Yes, yes it is, why else would it still burn after a night’s rest? No, its a knot. Its a knot. Its a knot.