שלום

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[rudysassafras]

[rudysassafras]

Early mornings, midday light

Regardless of the hour

Eager road on grocery night, the

Couch after we shower

Together walking hand in hand

In cozy autumn fashion

On paths where leaves of ginkgo land

Near dusk, but nearer passion

—rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

Tagged by @letmebethecure to post four non selfies from your camera roll.

[rudysassafras]

s a i n t

i'd tell him not to take,

& plead he stay the track

"be oh so careful not to break

your loving mother's back"

your gait will lose its rhythm

your nature, too, will change

she'll break your light upon her prism'd

eyes as soft as rain

i'd tell him not to smile

cause laughter turns to tears

remind him there's too many miles

between the hope and cheer

but he does just as he pleases

the moment is his art

the rules of rationality

escape his simple heart

-rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

h a s h e m

i used to be afraid of death

i was an anxious little kid

i'd check my pulse with bated breath

and try to keep it hid

i don't worry anymore

because i know his name

you never speak the name, of course

but you breathe it just the same

-rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

t h e p o t & t h e k e t t l e

the bright copper kettle gets dirty sometimes

like evenings where tea is replaced with the wine

the pot is no better — a scrubbing is due

both charred by the fire then washed in the dew

[creatediana]

Everything is you to me and it's personal it's personally you and I look for it you in everything look for you in everything is you. I see you in everything shifting shifting shifting in and out of bed in the morning I jump and I make the coffee which always is you and for you and yours as I am as everything as the cream the cream the cream I was in Market Basket looking at the cream was all you believe it or not but only I only I could see it as the mothers around chased their kids to get them back in the shopping cart so they could buy their goddamn groceries and go home I can't eat anymore. I can't eat anymore personally because you are all I take in personally and I'm shrinking and shutting down because you take my breath personally my personal breath my own why are you such a person and not my own a person at all what person what person can do this to me what did I do to you that you would do this to me get me like this and make everything you all the coffee all the cream every floor tile even in Market Basket that I tread on and I'm so sorry I'm sorry I have to go on like this looking like this but am I crazy am I the only one who sees it personally? And why you why you why you why so personally is it you that man That Man every morning and night every day you are that man and everything like it's personal. You are the only person there has ever been you have had me be personal rolling off the couch whining and crying on the floor like I never used to do like my friends have never seen of me But at That man that man personally it has been so personal and I can't pin down why so you. Why so you? Why so you all the time why not a bag over the head so I can concentrate why else am I drinking all this coffee that's you only coffee and you sustain me and honestly personally not even the coffee anymore personally it's you— everything— I want you personally everything

"Ecstatic and Infatuated (everything is him personally)" - a free verse poem written 3/13/2025

[rudysassafras]

i learned as a boy

about the closing door,

how splinters wound

the heart exposed,

and it's best to wear

an expressionless face

but later as a man

i'd come to understand

there's not a thresh could hold

the water from the sand

[rudysassafras]

the tempest destroys

you find one in every heart

but we chose to stay

[rudysassafras]

m e n o r a h

[rudysassafras]

Livingston, Alabama

[rudysassafras]

s e r e n b e

my head and heart are jumbled up

like wine inside a coffee cup

cerebral tannin, ardent heat

i'm drunk inside you, bittersweet

i still recall your sweet bouquet

my fingers smelled of beaujolais

your finish lingered on my tongue

in velvet depths, uncorked and sprung

-rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

v e r t i g o

it's kind of like a mountain

or high upon a hill

you feel just like an eagle

swooping down to make the kill

and then it's like a pit

the faintest light above

you feel just like a rodent when

you're crawling out of love

-rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

b o u r b o n

i love, i love, i love

alas, i fear, i'm barred

so i'll fear and loathe and shove

just like a starry shard

straight toward your fortressed bosom

just like a cannon ball

until you feel your freedom

just like a falling star

so wish upon it, dear

just like a disney tune

dispose of all your fear

and share with me this room

remember each embrace

and cast away your doubts

and don't forget the face

that promised you a house

-rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

s u b l i m i n a l

So long, my dearest friend

Another feigned goodbye

The night is ne'er the end

Until we close our eyes

Relax for me just once

Denude your mind of snares

And bury all your guns,

Your worries and your cares

-rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

p e t r o s

i'm out in california

sleeping through the day

reaching through the night

for words i want to say

i'm scared i'll never find them

i'm scared you'll pass me by

scared these flaccid words of love

appear as just a lie

so maybe if they're cruel

you'll send me to detention

i'd rather that my words were hard

to garner your attention

but that's just it, you see?

the fractured lens of distance

it blurs the recollection of

your sultry irresistance

-rudysassafras

[rudysassafras]

f o r e v e r

a virgin tossed wave on

promiscuous seas,

you say that my heart is

too moonstruck to see

crimson-red parchment,

a bow and some twine,

you think that this love's just

some cheap valentine

i'm humble as ghandi,

but time chooses sides;

your doubt of my love's an

affront to my pride

so take me for longing

or leave me behind,

believe when i tell you

i've made up my mind

-rudysassafras