A like without a read is a box without the chocolates. It's the froth on a milkshake. A kiss blown from the other side of the street. Am I guilty of such false love? Of ticking boxes without bothering to read more than the first few lines? Of course. The little heart looks so much nicer when coloured in, don't you think? A like is my smiley face stamp on the back of your hand for fitting at least one of your yellow plastic pieces through the correct and corresponding shaped hole. It might be considered as damning with faint praise, but then...

how many of you have actually bothered to read this?

Her eyes were scintillating as he watched her step out of the Olympic sized pool. His eyes wandered from the tip of her royal purple painted toes, all the way to her bikini cleavage. She smiled as she approached him. His heart began to beat faster, and faster. Was the pool getting much smaller, and the world beginning to spin...or was it just the effect of her beauty? That the young attorney pondered.

He tried to clear his throat, but his mind was focused on watching her slowly take a sip of a cool refreshing drink, her favorite, pink lemonade. She bent down to pick a drink from the cooler, and he gulped. His hands were burning to move over and tap her derrière.

"So, what's up?" He asked nonchalantly.

He took a deep breath, and smiled back at her. She walked over to him, and handed him a cold drink, a can of Red Bull. His fingers glided over hers as if they were ready to grab her and lead her into a dance. He cleared his throat, "Thanks for the drink."

She winked at him. "Oh, honey. I am just getting started. I have a whole meal, plus dessert, all set in the dining area for us as we spend some 'quality time' together."

He felt trickles of sweat begin to form along his neck, and he adjusted his tie. She gently moved even closer to him, and he felt as if he was prey being eyed by her- his predator. He slowly trembled when she brushed her tongue across his lips. She tugged at his necktie, and slowly pulled it. Tossing it onto the floor. She raised her eyebrow, and asked him, "Are you ready for the main course?"

The young attorney was almost at a loss for words. "I...ah..yes. If you are also on the menu. I will definitely will be staying for the entire meal."

At this she burst out laughing. "Ha, my oh my. I better take you now then since you cannot wait to get our 'quality time' together started."

He rose to his feet, and lifted her over his shoulder. With lightning speed, he carried her off to her boudoir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAN2_S0Y5l0

#QualityTime

20th June, 2023.

All Right Reserved

... I

believe

in Soul

in which

I draw our

attentions,

to the very S

as in pluribus...

multus tumultuous

that signifies an uS

in an equilibrium

as such Ssssss's

in our balances

top and bottom

heading off

in opposite

but equal

directions

with this

sensuous

central

swerve

that

links

uS

all

up

~

06.20.2023

We Became Each Other's Soulmates challenge @DanPhantom123

**inspiration song**

https://youtu.be/lA8F9sIhGdg

Sighs and Butterflies

i can forgive

but i can never forget

god

i wish it was

the other way around

you forgive me

and forget me so easily

you need to get

out of my head

i can't sleep anymore

it's too bad

we're dead now

wispy shadows

and memories

humming and buzzing

disappearing and dancing

you always looked back

and i could see it

in your eyes

you kissed me

you loved me

i didn't think

you could forget me

god

i wish it was

the other way around

it's too bad

we're dead now

but you're still

keeping me awake

i wish you

were dead now

i'll finally get

some sleep

but

i'm not going to sleep

i'm going to forgive you

clawing up

digging out

learning to forget you

it's too bad

you're dead now

i hope you're sleeping well

the sun drowns into the horizon

I watch it bleed blood-orange

greedy and gripping to the day

against the gravity of celestial porridge

and banal boundless black

the sky weighs a blanket of stones

it's bruising into rotting blues

yet there is art in the aches

awe in the golden hour views

and ataraxia in the two-past-nines

we marvel at this

beguiling beauty

of bittersweet death

I can't seem to escape these mistakes.

Like a man who fishes in empty lakes,

Every moment I'm haunted; morning, noon, and night.

My dreams bring with them no delight.

The darkness seeps in, like winter on roses,

And with every pondering, my open door closes.

I feel trapped in a box, with no hole to breathe.

Washing blood from my hands, but holding the sheath.

They creep in my mind, and tap on my skull.

They won't let me fall to a daydreamy lull.

I try to get out but they pull me back in.

They burst in my eyes all over again.

It seems I'll never escape these mistakes,

Like a man who fishes in empty lakes.

She so deeply loves

The deeply damaged

You know the ones

Others don't bother to manage

Stray cats and clearance plants

Things that need a second chance

Despite the neglect, rejection, and hell

She believes her love can make them well

I am a stitch in a swatch of people

Hush whispering, wheels rolling, walls humming

The bus's lights glow dozing blue and dull

The liminal sings through rhythmic drumming

A man in dirt-caked cargos strums his bass

A woman wearing cleavage cries quietly

The endless strings of souls I can't amass

An archive of loves and lives lost to me

A bloodless voice from speakers above

A boy flees past the doors onto concrete

Never will I see his worn face hereof

The basses strings simmer beneath my feet

Heavy eyes; brush of a bony shoulder

Listerine and cleat cheese down the corner

<>< <>< <><

sweet slow summers,

shy skittish kisses by the swing set,

picking and skipping rocks by the shifting stream.

the soft petals of callow youth fall silently on oblivious grasses.

time has no patience.

how your bloody clock hands are choking me!

now your summers are begging,

and your kisses are begging,

and the stream is crying and burly.

and i beg of u sweet summer water,

let me swim upstream with the spry scarlet salmon,

through the salty blue pacific,

slip by the frothy currents,

and sleep eternally in silky grey sands of innocence.

i was wet

though dry as a bone

the water was clear

but it stung

my eyes as if it were toxic--

maybe they were

maybe we all were..

i could swim

but what was the point?

i was a flounder

in a bathtub of gin