life of light and shadow

like a candle
measuring time
life will be brilliant and haunting
illuminating the unconscious
by symbols by dreams
casting shadows
life will be flammable
like an impulse
with a lock on
its aim

#katyamills

swift-e

she was singing alongside taylor swift on the radio and imagining they were friends just fucking around with a duet. and swift punched her in the arm and said they sounded good together actually. maybe ill get you up on stage. nah. that's okay Taylor. this is more fun.  #katyamills

white bison

gentle is the truth
bled out from the tip
of the pen
absorbed by the pulp
of a sweet fallen
tree

#katyamills

serrated

astonished 

all of their life behind them 

serrated 

suddenly pulled together 

into a coherent 

story

#katyamills

Assange

he touched down in Australia
having faced draconian measures
he was finally home
sorrowful after the imprisonment
time was taken but not
dignity

#katyamills

six 25

shine a light
dear memory
into the anxious night
of forgotten
long lost
loves


crossing
back into the stitches
radiant and fused
what a mess we made
not knowing how
to live


we had each others
kind words soft touch
to get us through

#katyamills

six 23

even kindness 

was hardwired in

a world patterned for war 

the downtrodden 

they showed us 

the way

#katyamills

six twenty two

the best part was

you made me free 

2 say whatever I had to say

2 dress how I felt like 

2 be in diverse moods 

2 go anywhere with you 

knowing you would 

protect us


#katyamills

nowhere

a cracked and bleached road

took me deep into nowhere

the crop dusters engines pulling up on gravity

like grasshoppers bull frogs birds

thoughts and feelings can coexist

here without force

#katyamills

against a fire

i didn't want to I

was scared of you 

and all your power 

but if i didn't stop you now 

there was no telling 

what might happen 

so i spoke up 

when you crossed me 

and dug in 

like a fire line held 

in a rugged 

county

#katyamills

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enter for a free e-copy of Grand Theft Life

(my second book)

in April

pristine the morning was
before jet engines broke
ducks and geese leading
little ones half woke
across the pond to where
the beaver felled maple
made for shade in
April

#katyamills

after the thaw

i had to bury her
after the thaw
that bad ass bitch
after it all
who came to exist
when i was in danger
now left me wounded
and raw
my shadow like
a stranger


all the unfeeling
revved up 2 distraught
voices carried
across the hall
they were mine they
were

#katyamills

not to be mistaken

tenderness 

was not 

her thing 

thick 

the skin 

reptilian 

the lashes 

conveying tears 

to the crows 

feet 

only 4 

lubricant 

not to be 

mistaken 4
true
emotion

#katyamills

I who made me feel

the way you
made me feel
i could not stick
around


i could not
whiskey rocks
i bought
and downed
til I was numb and dumb
like the wake of a
sunset


on the periphery i
discovered it was i
who made me feel
that way

#katyamills

what we had

it wasn't romantic
what we had
didn't catch fire like
some fad
couldn't make millions
off a silver screen
wouldn't walk a runway
just to be seen
faded discolored was
what we had
blown in the glare
of a weary lag
we quietly held hands
in the alley

#katyamills

a nod to inattention

cheers to meeting our potential 

at a four star hotel
with roses atop down pillows 

five hours every morning 

pushing iron letters into ribbons 

a nod to inattention and 

our own worst
enemy

#katyamills

lingo

thursday. chronically blue they chose another hue with a front loaded track touched with bright and friendly lingo

#katyamills

key to the crime

discovered by a librarian working in the stacks it was key to solving the murder. they knew she had met him there and was his type and was the last place she was seen. the correspondence on the paper in the book matched both their handwriting and tied them.

#katyamills

iota

iota. ninth star. fading into blue at five forty-five am. the sixth month the fourth day of the year. it was ridiculously early to think but they could at least count to ten.




#katyamills

if dirt could speak

 the crow stood out 

against the songbirds his voice 

like if dirt could speak 

okay okay 

what have you to say crow? 

he chided me with off pitch 

neither sweet nor ingratiating 

felt somehow 

like truth

#katyamills

calcify

what architecture is this? despondent and fractured. one more stress and I fear it will all come down... you're mistaken, she said. it has weathered a thousand of our darkest days and will withstand a thousand more... long after your bones are calcifying the garden.

#katyamills