I'm saying your name in the grocery store, I'm saying your name on the bridge at dawn. Your name like an animal covered with frost, your name like a music that's been transposed, a suit of fur, a coat of mud, a kick in the pants, a lungful of glass, the sails in wind and the slap of waves on the hull.
Richard SikenHere I am leaving you clues. I am singing now while Rome burns. We are all just trying to be holy. My applejack, my silent night, just mash your lips against me. We are all going forward. None of us are going back.
Richard SikenA man takes his sadness down to the river and throws it in the river โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโbut then heโs still left with the river. A man takes his sadness and throws it away โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโbut then heโs still left with his hands.
Richard SikenI swear, I end up feeling empty, like you've taken something out of me and I have to search my body for scars.
Richard SikenI wanted to be wanted and he was very beautiful, kissed with his eyes closed, and only felt good while moving. You could drown in those eyes, I said, so itโs summer, so itโs suicide, so weโre helpless in sleep and struggling at the bottom of the pool.
Richard SikenYou're trying not to tell him you love him, and you're trying to choke down the feeling, and you're trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist, and you feel your heart taking root in your body, like you've discovered something you don't even have a name for.
Richard Siken