Author Archives: Alex J.J

I live in the pages and not the words or the linesfalling from my mouth. I live in the silent secondsin the gaps between lettersand sounds. as you readhold your breath because the secret of an openbookis everythingunsaid

in ten feet of smokehe standswaiting at a bus stop wonderingif love is careless like wind in her handslights left on at nightbedroom door unlockedhe cares less sometimes he is the ashesand the feelingsescaping embers so he crosses when no one crosseswonderingif he toocan pretend to care less

when shadows die/I am a ghost/wandering through airport security/sitting on the plane/wondering if the sky is also a river/and when I land/if this will be paradise/this is us/staring blankly through the window/trapped /sometimes I hate airplanes/and the thought of flying while I remain still/upsets me in the quiet/uncontrollable way that living is/that wound on myContinue reading “fields of paradise”

when you closed the bedroom doorand I could see your pieces of shadowwalk back and forthI felt like I was standing on a paper bridge. *** When the day comesand you leave us hereon the paper bridge I’m going to lose itI’m going to wash upon the shoreand lie when they ask mewhere I’m fromandContinue reading “departing pieces”

I thought about sleep and the strangeness of resting in a box

when the big wheels touch downdon’t tell me when it’s safe to take my belt off. You should know that I’m waiting.Waiting for the crashing sound of a gaspto tear me to pieces. whispers in the formof scratcheson my armsplease distract mefrom all thethoughts I shouldn’t haveand shouldn’t care about anymore. Don’t make me aContinue reading “soundless”

you see a finch flying far away through your window/through your bruised evening sky/through the dirty cotton clouds/several threads of light/silently flutter/when you see her step out of the car/you see the meaning of flight/change from flying through the air/to snatching the door handle/your walk hastening/and the stretching smile/weary eyes/ it all becomes/beautiful exhaustion/& reliefContinue reading “flutters”

I see the stars engraved in the sidewalkand I step on themto reach places so ordinaryI forgot I see the stars again.New flower. The yellow one. Growing crooked among the stars. Tuesday, You haven’t changedback bent slightly forward.You look so ordinaryto others especially.sometimes i don’t understandwhy no one ever stopped to look at you betweenContinue reading “flower star”

when I leave my curtains closedprick them with pinsso my days are full of starlightthe longer I’m awakeand insomnia becomes uncontrollable stargazing

those dirt and mudeyes walk along a traila thousand feet in the sterling sky. puddles everywherehe laughs the way he would walkthrough a forest on fire soundlessly It rained again last nighthe says he is truly tired this time at the end of the forestwhere no trail leadsthere is a valley and a bencha singleContinue reading “through”