# poems · page 2 ## [triumph](https://chromato.graphics/triumph) you outfit us in leather armor tie boots tight as heartstrings we dance and breathe as one enter prisms — offset blinking INFORMATION GLADLY GIVEN BUT SAFETY REQUIRES AVOIDING UNNECESSARY CONVERSATION underground, understand a halo grip my thighs below your wings breathe — you ask “_you ready?_” to leave, to ride, to fly. of course. don’t look down & don’t let go become part of a red machine: a bell, a backpack, a balance gripping tightly, holding loosely i am not afraid to ride with you to glide across rock and sound my pilot is divine, invincible even molded contours promise safety PLEASE HOLD ON SUDDEN STOPS ARE SOMETIMES NECESSARY as we swerve, we synchronize we’re on an island, smiling wide small compared to a lighthouse even smaller against your frame my sister thought she could fall along the same route we travel but i know i fell for you already ache is just what flight feels like ## [wrist](https://chromato.graphics/wrist) i clocked the watch once and wished its red hand swept across your face i knew i’d want the date i saw the toy’s hallmark that predates its maker cupid’s bow pointillism it looked best in color i slipped on a staircase tripped on slippery oak fell into a concrete pool cut and bruised joints you caught me there held me — rubbed salt into my fresh wounds to heal and to hurt me a thin black strap is all that holds back the sun when this camera falls it’ll leak light forever three solid bands form an unbroken bracelet brass never gleamed until becoming a label holding mine down against white silk, gray wool, graffiti it’s easy to go deep ## [bonfire](https://chromato.graphics/bonfire) we spin on turntables gift-wrapped bubbles plotting high treason one query hangs on a hook near my thigh _“how do you want to feel?”_ you produce three words two supple, one sharp relaxed. caregiven. surrender. we better not have another handle’s cold to the touch i hold your hand for warmth fetching a towel and water unfamiliar closet and faucet you aren’t used to this, are you? inside these walls, a forest i lead you down the worn path to a fire blazing at the center it’s just us dancing there — adjust angles, rhyme rhythms dig holes with feet and fingers you haven’t visited in years moonlight in an empty room i’ve never been, but will again draw maps into memory twist silver, pink, and blue the way back is circular ## [mirror](https://chromato.graphics/mirror) i’m sorry i bumped into you. i thought you were a mirror. your clear surface showed what they saw of me then. parties are meant for diffusion, but we focused instead. twisting the lens to almost make out what was there. i’m sorry i couldn’t touch you. i thought you were a mirror. i feared leaving greasy prints for everyone to see. museums of mailboxes and phones reveal past and future connections. a present — behind smudged display glass. i’m sorry you didn’t see me waving at you in the city. i thought you were a mirror. you weren’t yet waving back. being gay is hard sometimes. hotel bathrooms get steamy, you can’t always get the right angle before the image blurs. i’m sorry we were interrupted. i thought you were a mirror. i never dreamed anyone would walk through it and shatter the glass. i need to move but i can’t sleep. some things aren’t done yet. i’m hiding from sunrise, from men, under blankets and cardboard towers. i’m sorry i looked so long. i knew you were a mirror, but i couldn’t spot the vanishing point. some reflections distort; yours perfects. ## [incision](https://chromato.graphics/incision) half decade wishes: a leveling out. forbidden kisses the right choice, no doubt central park consult king cole martini review old results discard bikinis photograph the curves archives in high gloss the things i preserve, they’ll surely just toss day before phone calls rage at the system its stops, starts, & stalls need to assist him sleep, holding a heart cleanse every surface wrong name on the chart _of course you deserve this_ wave as the doors close _don’t use the “b” word_ eat eggs as you doze the artwork looks blurred a husband’s phone rings let me inside there treat you like a king hold cups as your care bumpy ride that night late rooftop phone call two beams of bright light never forget fall a week goes by fast managing your pain see yourself at last straight scars and no drain i cry more than you do it hits me deeply this thing that you choose didn’t come cheaply a body transformed like overnight oats years since your plans formed i’ll keep taking notes ## [readwrite](https://chromato.graphics/readwrite) have you ever had a girl cause engineering just for it, though weeks of design on a one-off built for the thing — to program it on the airplane commit to it: make it perfect, then install it when you get there, show it slowly touch a curved shape feel its edges unarchive it press it with force watch it open, animated every app must have its settings even if they never vary have you ever caused a toy to glow from within white light blinking when you read it you can see it: why it matters, what you’ll put there have you ever caused a thing to strip itself bare kernel panic! this will only take a second, last a lifetime deep within you type it all out hold it down now your domain, name hit the button have you ever felt an object as it’s written becoming yours ## [poison](https://chromato.graphics/poison) the black bottle kept just out of reach of those who fear my obsidian liquid a toxicology report: deadly in large doses but taken with care the hurting heals us sure, share a nightcap wince with me in pain we need this to sting no easier, knowing it small sips are sweet deeper drinks, bitter stone fruit can’t mask a burning this intense scared to let you see me like this — red eyes pierce pewter framing you want, no, need to as the spirit fully hits there’s no stopping this             _drink._ the cork is broken now ## [steps](https://chromato.graphics/steps) now please, sit back stretch out your legs relax awhile — furniture begs pull off your boots i’ll kneel below slip off your socks and take it slow bare both your soles flex all ten toes your footstool’s goal: to be repose our arches meet — my back, your curve almost so much i don’t deserve a faint perfume teases my nose the smoothest skin so rarely shows i’ll work them deep with oiled hands their perfect forms each digit fanned red lacquered nails command my eyes and higher heels you’ve made me buy bare, they stay — no decoration focus trained on adoration pressed on my face i’ll kiss you there and lick the base become ensnared kick or trample i’ll take the pain with shoes sampled my body strains pleads for pressure that space between — the greatest pleasure: touch from the queen release the jewels that flood within wetness pools on shining skin ## [camcorder](https://chromato.graphics/camcorder) twentysomething object built to take a beating— recording blurry scenes to wound cassette tapes. humming with precision opening up when pressed her red button worndown by many careless owners. secondhand machine with new ways of seeing inside freezing a frame when it can’t take this much in… an observation device for triangular dynamics that separate signal and static projecting what is actual. a new lease on life from repairs to its internals, charging, maintenance, & importantly: regular use. ## [gender.app](https://chromato.graphics/genderapp) pull out my phone tap on the app needs to update… they always do new gradient same icon shape wide colorspace hard to adjust why do we all want to shapeshift? to be seen through filters we make on the G train dark grey sweatshirt black leather boots riding crosstown slider tempts me— drag it slowly no one else stares they just don’t care this is my stop: girl in red dress heels to match her lipstick and tits costume changes inside closets infinite fits incoherence it’s not just me, everyone plays gender’s this game’s in-app purchase micro actions & transactions never enough to fill the space if i’m always searching for it, the right setting, flipping through them will i know when i have nailed it? new release notes: patches the bugs what if i’m stuck inside a loop? keep it running there’s no kill switch