tea cup language 

everyone has been talking like toppled kingdoms.
i waved to my neighbor yesterday just to see
he had a steak knife for a face. this hunger 
is restless. a stray dog of wooden spoons 
runs endlessly all night. a bird falls into
our cracked bedroom window & i scold you for opening 
too many pathways. i am, in many ways, a sealed urn. 
my ashes are my ashes. i just want to go sit 
with the tea cups. pretend my life is behind a glass case 
where all we can talk about are the names of flowers 
& lost lovers' lips. the cups always reject me. 
they know i'm not one of them. they hear my voice waver.