i hate that our parents taught us to muffle our emotions

and i hate the need for a cigarette that i feel in your car



i hate that when i was younger i told myself to stop writing songs

i hate the need for loving that i feel when i'm alone



but it is going to be alright sometime

it is going to be alright sometime

i feel this soft



you don't know what to do when you're cold and lonely

your sit on my bed and watch tv

the seasons are changing

your hands are frigid and you are messaging your girlfriend

telling her existential things,

bringing her into your crisis



now you're remembering when you were thirteen

and in love with ingrown ivy

and your best friend...

who told you she could never love you and said so in the cryptic bubbles

she drew in your poetry book.

you're feeling kind of restless and you know you can't contest that

there's no way

to get out of this highhandedly-



so you turn away

and you make up words to fill the pages of



your soft leather book

and you think of sweet summer, somewhere special and you crawl

into your bed

where you can be warm

and blend in -

Next to you
I slow my breathing
To memorize the rhythm of yours,
Which calms me from the memory
Of nightmares

I was always
The first person awake at the sleepover;

Maybe one or two girls awoke
But everyone returned to rest with ease
Except me -

I've long been looking for things to fill those spaces
Between sleep and wakefulness ;

I had never considered
Writing to you

Yours was the arrival

I did not know

I was anticipating

Unleash your depths
And let me drown, I

Want to learn how long I will  submerge
Before my lungs burn up

And my eyes bulge out
Until I can no longer feel the pressure

When I am with you,

My smile can blaze

And my muscles

Contort themselves into positions

I never imagined possible

I brim with compassion.

My strength comes from encountering fear
And gazing into the eyes
Of whatever form it takes.

It lies in my acceptance
Of vulnerability as great as the trees
Whose aged, gentle leaves
Shade my fragile skin
And restore me as I slumber.

This confidence is a new development,
And I do not always bear it with grace;
But I trust in my abilities
And love for living,
(A rare thing! A new thing! A grand thing!),
Which I defend fiercely
And with great care.

Shame upon whomever seeks to shatter
The tranquility of another!
May the yellow eye of terror
Fixate on them
And inspire redirection.

On Taking Up Space,

the ripples of the skin of my gentle lover-

Diligently recorded

In smudging black ink

Banks
And the stale odor of Marlboro Golds
Remind you of a slower time
When you broke into abandoned barns and sang sermons to the rooftops
Unaware of who might listen

You've gone home now,

Departed on your bike in your baseball cap

And I can still feel
The echo of you on my skin