Be gentle baby, use something sharp,

carve a long cut and pull it out of my skull.

Please, take it for a promenade outside of me.

Show it kindness and marvel, let me breathe.

Oh, allow me to meet the peace of blissful ignorance.

Afterwards, when you come back, prudently replant it,

gaze into my woeful eyes and, if you dare, tell me that

the way I live is not languidly killing me.

M.L. December ‘24

"The Dog, the Cat, and the Birds"

"Empty Closet"