It Grows in My Garden
By AJ Orphee

i love because his indifference
grows like
rampant vines

what is this parasite
that plagues my lush
garden, i demand to know?
what is this strychnine
that mutilates my lilies
and slices my
poinsettias' stems (the
limbs bleed milk)?

is it exotic?
is it toxic?
does it excite?
does it eat meat?
can it scream?

maybe it's the soil
maybe it's the love
the love it overpowers
the parasite is in his
hand/ it's in his fingers
(offshoots)

all-pervading roots
creep up Daphne's
gnarled legs
and the violets are
singing
clinging
to their seeds
sinning

you are datura to me

your offshoots stink
of fuck of "babe" of
love in vain
and the rain sets the soil
on fire
but datura does not die
that way

i could starve you
but how do you
exterminate something that
thrives on famine?

On My 20th Birthday
By AJ Orphee

My skin bears no wrinkles
but I feel my soul
has aged

only because it serves no other purpose
I fear false teeth
chrome greys
and why shouldn’t I? It
is not me

But today
is a satori
I can't lie/ I really did plan on living this long

Today
I stop screaming on the outside
(we all have to grow up some time)

Today
I will chew my meat more slowly
more lady-like

Today
the burdens of others become my obsession

Today
I have been called a Lolita for the last time

And like some sort of Courbet
I will paint you the tangible
and the obscene

I will paint you
what you are and
not what I want you to be
No, I haven't given up
I'm merely surrendering

Today
I feel like renouncing you more than before

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