honey & lime

Pretty Weapons

I.

Noxious fumes blanket my breath by the lungful

Lacquered nails bounce light off their new varnish

I try to keep the sharpened edges to myself

Carve crescent moons into peachy palms

For my own protection

 

II.

Too many swipe rights on battery drained screens

Have lured me to a dusty bakery in a darkened alley

New boots scuffed in city slush

Dirty ice dissolves on discounted velvet

Glossed lips glued together in pink goo

 

III.

My voice is poison when handsome strangers shuffle in the doors

I can’t control the lies that drop from my tongue

please like me                please like me

If they do, they drag my wrist to the street

I follow on valentine feet

 

IV.

Stairs to shared apartments in crooked neighborhoods

Lead up to deja-vu bedrooms

My hands twitch survival and science

I can scratch until my nail tears skin from skeleton

So deep they’ll show only bone