1. |
Decaf or Regular?
01:25
|
|||
|
I woke up wanting to kiss you,
You woke up wanting to make coffee.
Sitting on the edge of our bed
your spine creaked like all the
rotting floorboards we walked
over every day. I try to make it better,
but I am trying to cure a disease of
your mind with only my two hands.
There is nothing I can do to make
this
better.
There is nothing I can do to make
you
better.
I still remember the way your
lighthouse heart used to show me
the way home every night,
but I’m afraid that we’ve ruined
everything we’ve ever touched
because my ships just aren’t sailing anymore.
So you make your coffee.
I lie back and rest my head on the cool
pillow. By the time you come back
I am already asleep. You curl up next
to me whispering about how coffee
has always made you tired and
even with all that caffeine rushing in
your veins, you fall asleep again too.
I wake up wanting to kiss you.
You wake up wanting more coffee.
|
||||
2. |
Needles and Thread
01:31
|
|||
|
Growing up, I had the only dad that could
sew circles around all my friends’ moms.
Anytime I needed something fixed,
I would put it in front of the sewing machine.
He’d put on his big reading glasses, sit down,
and work his tree-trunk hands across
whatever I had ruined this time.
He’d fix holes in my blankets.
He’d re-stuff my favorite stuffed animals.
He’d fix the frayed cuffs of my jeans.
Anytime I had loved something
a little too hard, he’d be there
to make it just like new again.
But, at some point stuffed animals and blankets
turned into floral dresses and mini-skirts
and the pile of clothes in front of the sewing machine
stacked up way too high.
Our house was bursting at the seams,
and my dad couldn’t fix all the holes
because they stopped being
made from loving too hard.
I was just playing with shears,
and then waiting for someone to
sew us back together.
Today, I brought him a broken zipper.
Let’s just bring this one to the tailor,
He said.
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
You were born with an umbilical cord
wrapped tightly around your neck
right on top of the graves of our fathers.
Your first gasp of air smelled like
death and roses,
overwhelmingly sweet,
undeniably bitter.
But after all these years you still
hold your breath when we take
a moment of silence for all of
your wasted potential.
You savor that regret as if
it were the tide.
You let it crash over you
again and again.
It’s about time you opened
up your lungs to the salty air.
Now you have to let the pain of
all we’ve done
seep into your every pore,
and it hurts, and you’ll choke,
but you’ll know it’s the
right thing.
You’ll know we did the right thing.
|
||||
Julia Alexander Connecticut
I'm a part time poet and a full time cry baby. If you get too close to me, I'll write a really emotionally confusing poem
about you. It'll be exhausting for both of us.
To contact Julia for inquires of all sorts e-mail juliaalexanderpoetry@gmail.com
... more
Julia Alexander recommends:
Slow Dance in the Cosmos
by Porches
good relaxing tunes. cry your eyes out.
go to album
A Lot of Bad Things Have Happened, but We're Still Here
by Two Knights
two punks from texas who are as sweet as can be but will melt your face with the power of rock
go to album
Standing Still
by When All We Love is Lost
when all we love is lost (dan colasanto) is an emo dream come true. if you like into it. over it. you'll love him.
go to albumIf you like Julia Alexander, you may also like:
Understand What Black Is
by The Last Poets
featured on Bandcamp Radio May 15, 2018
go to album
Playing with Esu / Where will Ogun Live
by Neo Griot & The Afrocentric Prince
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 25, 2022
go to album
Fodder
by Douglas Kearney & Val Jeanty
Poet Douglas Kearney and composer/producer/drummer Val Jeanty link up for a a compelling LP that feels like the written word come to life.
go to album
