do you think that silence is a virtue? 

[I don’t think there are any bridges being mended over repressed thoughts]
 

I keep hoping for something real among notifications 

there’s a world I touch

and one I long for 

[something intangible]
 

I don’t know if I’m coercive enough to make the kind of statement 

I feel tingling on my tongue 

[I know we are precious 

but how do I tell you??] 
 
 

I’ve been told a ring 

means salivate 

I’ve been told space 

is bleak and listless 

I’ve been told to keep my legs 

twisted together 

unless I’d like to make them part

I’ve been told warmth 

is detrimental 

and lust is hollow glass

I’ve been told sin 

can be cleansed 

with holy fluids 

[so I choose a flask] 
 

remember the coquettish spring 

you spent together? 

by the summer you had melted 

and you had nothing to show for 

it 

nothing but cracks 

in the facade. 
 

– sheila c.