A long lost ginger cat’s curled whisker encased within glass jam jar A fluffy blanket which smells like Nag Champa and stale cigarettes A stretchy leopard print legging sagging at the knees A crushed haphazard collection of herbal spring flowers A perilously high stack of hard backed books cracked at…

Taking everything personally Too sensitive Sharing trauma releases Too open Clashing dual personalities Too much Holding long-term grudges Too unforgiving Build better resilience Get thicker skin Seek therapy Get the tools Accept differences Get on with it Move on Get over it

I understood their perfect prose Reminded me I was not the first to suffer Kept me from losing myself to the blankness Resisted joining their eternal sleep When they spoke they called to me The existence in their words admirable

Within deep oceans found Slips through barnacled fingers Lured by its rhythmic pulse Torrential currents pull and tug Emotional waves crash down Silently drown within my storm Death whispers her promise Through siren tongue

In infancy its concept was intangible As a toddler it morphed into abstract In childhood moved by imagined delay As a teen riddled with depressed angst In young adulthood full of promise As a mature adult transformed by compromise In middle age it rushes to become the present

Compulsively staring at the semi occupied mason jar Dissecting with critical eyes its lurid contents Tapping the lettered glass whenever I pass Occasionally lifting to shake and peer – Unable to rip away Heart breaking and bouncing with every vibration Vinegar water steeped to a furious vermilion Thirsty for the twist — lift — pop Take you down Pervade the depths of me Quench my thirsty resentment

Driving away sadness Pushing away grief Confused by anger Unsettled by pain Withdrawing my emotions Stonewalling my rejection Anticipating the disconnection Embracing the isolation

Act 1 Kindness - She was always of this mind Even to those who were not so inclined Act 2 Niceness - The first thing people thought of her Overused description accepted better Act 3 Intelligence - To be able to rise against presumptions Self -educated removed Assumptions

Unknown… Pressed Liminaly Preserved Beautifully Groomed Carefully Picked Delicately Arranged Artfully Delivered Hastily Admired Lovingly