wide-eyed and WTF

 denial is

a dog woke

 tool early 

by an alarm

everyone put Baby in a box

without self-labeling 

others will apply their own

predeterminations 

to me, most people are puzzles

little pieces learned 

here and there

to most people, I am X, Y, Z

turning inward

some nights, she presses

neck sore awkward

inertia shifting me aside

toward 

the edge

and I wake

startled 

in near collapse;

other nights I wake

to her gentle curl

the base of my spine

warm, her little nose

lifting 

as I turn inwards

I am what I am

Probably 

Gonna

…fuck some shit up…

getting back to that girl

collecting recipes 

I want to eat 

with my eyes

with rumbling intent 

vibrant and wild 

in technicolor, sepia

and cream, deep reds

of wine reduced 

there was a girl once

curious I have to get back to

she’s not there

too late, waining wet winter

cold got into my bones 

infection got into my lungs

though the latter was not you

the former surely was

and time the only cure