catch and release

"It almost looks like rose petals"
he stumbled,
on the roar of my release

And I knew
Unhappiness is:
—1 bottle Chianti (750 ml)
—3 mothballs (generic)
—1 package Ricola™ lozenges (original)
—1 whale song
—2 cps. dried paint chips
(from the walls of my parent's bedroom)
—3 dead goldfish

And I knew
That in my 20 years of sleep
I would eat
unconsciously
6-8 spiders
and they,
like stars over the desert,
would multiply
and web
wet, brilliant silks
between my
darkest nothings

And I knew
Sharks die when still

And we had been dying
since we read Lorca.

"You are nothing but smoke in my hands!"

"That's actually very—"

And I knew
Through the
hot catharsis
and
blessed
kiss of porcelain

I was already
alone
in the guest bathroom.