chased out of China
they made it West in shipping containers
up the deep water channel
into our city
the artful ones escaped the ports
dodged cars into yards
only to face their distant cousin
the American raccoon
who welcomed them
with gnashing teeth
to living hell
#katyamills
all the coffee in the world
could not dislodge your personality
you needed someone to talk to about it but you did not want to
and so the world learned to live
with you
#katyamills
pain has many flavors
in the spine it’s like cayenne simmered in a chamomile bath
three years on it’s still hard to relax
the pandemic almost buried us all
now i take my key
striking out to see friends
#katyamills
there’s nothing like the sound
of early birds of spring
you gotta mute the commercials
to really understand
#katyamills
they don’t really know what they
are doing
forgot all the things you said
to help them understand
the sun will shine again
your honey will love you
through anything
and when you put on your uniform
and go to work
all will even out
like cream stirred into
coffee
#katyamills
we broke off into cliques
saturated in our societal relations
disinterested
writing off half
the damn world
i became an individual again
somewhere i don’t know how or why
without closure
outside
looking in
#katyamills
back home
staining they sketchpads with inks
up all night alone they would not buy the lies for free
misfit friends in they head. loner celebration
extinguished the tv and touched the room with radio
they cast they line
deep and trolled for broken
hearts
#katyamills
our senses gone
an unbroken dawn
cracks and poaches its whites by the sea
the folding of time into the sun and elements
overexposed the same
no one to blame
adventure magnificent and tragic
we will never love like that
again
#katyamills
the last light
of an abbreviated month
appeared in rain
falling like whispers
from the sky
#katyamills
be super
be sweet
no one else can
be you
be quiet
wake up
you’re lazy
you can’t
#katyamills
K IS SILENT 