the grit slips between my teeth

violence is the only thing keeping me awake these days

and as the blood spills

dribbles like dirty water from a faucet

from beneath my fingernails

i sigh in the relief

and the realization

that i am still alive enough to bleed

i am not dead yet

you say you're in rare form

like that means anything

it's getting darker as the clock moves farther

and my eyes burn in the blanket of night

like crushed cigarettes

suffocated underfoot

i'm spitting up volatility

like acid rain and diseased blood

burning the floor around me

and plummeting me to the basement

So alive i was once
like a stubborn child
holding onto a stone
he found on the side of the road
i held onto a notion
and let it consume me
the convulsing addict writhing on the floor