Kim Dang

A civil war rages onwards
between my mind's freedom vs. my
will's institutionalized cage.
Every action premeditated to appease
...

Murmuring in the background lies the twang of guitar strings
Cooperatively overlapping, not interrupting, the sound of morning avians, calling.
Their foreign tongue harps to me in octaves and E notes, guileful.
Slower than the gentle sway of willow leaves,
...

Clutch me, wrap your arms around my body, tight, like rope burn
Foreheads mushed together, red, everyone said this'd hurt
And while we're breathing together, sharing the same rhythm
It's like I've let the pieces of me go on sudden exhibition -
...

Like dandelion seeds, submissible to the wind
Floating where the changing tides of rupturing foliage takes me
Clacking cherry leaves deafens out both our sanities
Muffling the whispers of my conscience, tugging at my heartstrings.
...

Let me have some Novocaine
Stuck underneath my eyelids,
so they fail to crease again. To what pressure?
As if I actually enjoy the salty pleasure
...

That stillness of air between the centimeter gaps which separates us
That same rhythm of exhalations, we're counting each opposing movement
Looking at your steady chest, stealing glances at my watch and
we're both rearranging the way our pants fit so tightly.
...

The prolonged moans of opera sirens will echo within imaginary looming chambers,
I close my lids, soaking in the aptly chosen playlist
My eyes otherwise never leaving this polished table, not straying once from concentration
But in my peripheral yours will have stayed long enough to sear two parallel lines through my green cardigan
...

Forge divisions at our intersection, our possibilities limitless
Whisper to me your insecurities beneath all this spotted darkness
Our hair lie in tangles alternating between wooden floors and grass dews
Tell me of that once upon a time story, that day when we abandoned all our virtues
...

Let me lecture you on aging, provoking you to fear, so that I can be a bit alleviated
from being downright frightened of your deaths
I'll push you to the cusp of questioning, regardless of your tenure as my guidance,
if only to keep your mind from forgetting, this stimulation
...

It's a soiled walk, barefoot and slower than molasses
Like the speed of a wink after shocking revelations
A country song, unmixed and unfeatured, solely played.
...

Frown down at me, overbearingly shaking your head
as No One Knows drones on in the background, besides my bed
As if everything's on mute and we're fast forwarded
I'm miserably peaking outwards of these warm covers and
...

What happened, to our three hour phone calls.
There was a blip to our friendship and now, now
it's like the novelty's worn out.
The excitement tuck its tail between its feet
...

An honest gasp, my breath's escape and diaphragm raised.
A crinkle in time wrinkles and molehill creations spring to life on both our foreheads.
My thumb and index work together to tuck away hair strands, bothersome.
The gaps between these fingers filled, automatic, like cars on highways, like traffic.
...

The biggest turn on - your humility.
It's like the best of Edwin McCain perforating every one of my musical pores.
It's like making me speechless in the middle of this argument -
to voice your steady apology.
...

Send me something gift wrapped,
Something honest
Something blatantly innocent
Hold me with the ideals still living within you
...

Now these smiles, they remain inhibited
Behind my stretched eyelids, I'll mutter hedonistic
dreams for you. In my imaginary world, the crows
they'll continue to scream for you. So please,
...

The Lindin fable
My eyes, I'm able to dismiss your cruelties.
My heart, sewn back from one shattered piece
My world, my soul, will remain indifferent to your curiosities.
...

A pulsating deep sleep, I'm busy with a dream.
Held back by the weight of my backpack, by my skin's seams
Somewhere two valleys below, past a small molehill, lies my heartbeat, thumping
To a combination of active callings, like confident angels, they sing.
...

Balancing...
on a string of words, cautiously tip toeing first
Not knowing behind you something is rolling forward
to knock your sticks off, so you can kick off your next verse
...

Twirl, make my clock tick
Churn my endorphins into something more
fermented.
Carelessly handing out permissions to bruise me
...