safeways

some beet faced drunk knocked

produce off the stand

dodging shadows stepped 

on garlic cloves 

the masks had just come off

that sound

the flesh breaking under 

paper skins

you paid me a compliment

 i – i wasnt sure i 

could take it    #katyamills

they (don’t) care

they don’t care

what you may think or say or

feel. find something you love

put your heart in it and 

never give up

#katyamills

no.20

like a secret 

in the nucleus 

of the yolk

of the eye

we defy analytics

science

religion

sharpened by 

the guarantee of 

annihilation

unwilling 

to be dulled

by screens

technology or

tradition

#katyamills

cat and bird

blondy and the black cat 

brothers contemplative for hours 

on this high balcony

only a mouthful of feathers

will end the procession 

of cans

#katyamills

trans kids

like frozen planets they 

lived long in darkness with space

they fell into orbit waiting

for the sun to inhabit 

they potential. centuries

away long since learned the art of solitude

to free up they water

and colors

#katyamills

(grow) up

when dead broke the bills 

get big and ferocious they yell at you 

late @ night cant get no sleep

growing up u discover u

your own problem now 

billy

#katyamills

miscast

growing up in new england they

was a gale wind pushing 

they voice through cracks in the mortar

wailing. no such tolerance

like pulling together for 

all kinds of weather 

you got miscast who 

would fight for you? thrown on stage 

good luck remembering 

your lines     #katyamills

heavy metals

dissociative

staring at the wall again

they turned up the volume

zero calorie heavy 

metals to defend against they

demons  

#katyamills

put ups from jellybean

on a day we cant get no 

breaks you gave me ups 

my jellybean. growin up got only

put downs. bass without

treble you gave 

me ups when i most 

needed   #katyamills

Bukowski’s wife

she waited for him to get that out of his system

being loved being celebrated by the world

for his poems. finally. all the other women came and went

she could just as easily have felt scorned she

coulda chose not to be born she

got brave and some say stupid she loved him

for the rest of his days  #katyamills