heard he built decoys of buildings
so no one would know her prison
made a moat so no birdman could watch her
water so cold it would free her soul
if she took the swim

heard that she fell in love with him
one day
almost by accident
he’d been sitting under a tree
a writer without words with
fingers not bound to catch his dreams
visions with runny colors
she took pity on him
sat with him for a while
gave him enough gift
to explore his thoughts

rumored that she found beauty there
in the nights she touched him
stayed with him a little too long
and he loved back
tricked into thinking the talent was his
he figured out her game
found that she flittered to other lovers
offering up her gifts
while he slept,
or pretended

he tried to be without her
spent days torturing himself endlessly
while trying to forget her touch
preoccupied himself with other gods
but he had already tasted the pomegranate juice
between her thighs
and heard her moans at night
that gave him words for days
letting him write plays and sonnets
he thought only realizable in dreams
that had always ended too quickly

he would have sold his soul for her
so he did
he’d been chasing black butterflies
for a while now
trying to clip their wings
trading in sanity for a captive
that was faster than rivers
with promiscuity only the twinkles
of stars could gossip of

he sucked her up
through ozone clouds
with big giant straw
and now
she been locked in
imagined alcatrazes for too long
with writers loosing their words
and musicians forgetting their songs
its been a lot of sad days
since he took her
away

so now
there are hints of her
when
tree breezes say
she fell in love too easy
and problem happened
when one of them realized
he could fall in love back

but
I’ve always taken to counting them out
passing them off as freckles
for a while I’ve had my numbers concrete

because they can touch
late one night
he said they counted as one
and I’ve been reevaluating my truth
ever since

I guess
my body is up to interpretation
I suppose
its always been

I just wanted to say that this whole project that we have going is amazing. I am in Mexico right now, which makes things difficult to both read and post but I hope to every once in a while to get online and see what everyone has been thinking, seeing and feeling. I really do miss you all, even if I only got to know you through your words or images. I hope everyone’s summer is going well, take care and enjoy these last weeks. I cannot wait to see you all in January.

Con cariño,
Coffee