Five Poems

Familiar Terms
You say I love you for your lies?
    But that's not true.
I love your absent-hearted eyes -
    And so do you.

You say you love me for my truth?
    But that's a lie.
You love my tongue because it's smooth -
    And so do I.

You say they love who lie this way?
    I don't agree.
They lie in love and waste away -
    And so do we.

Darker Ends
Here's my hand turned to shadows on the wall -
Black horse, black talking fox, black crocodile -
Quick fingers beckoning darkness from white flame,
Until my son screams, 'No! chase them away!'

Why do I scare him? Fearful of my love
I'm cruelly comforted by his warm fear,
...