you're the rarest emerald i've ever seen
but i prefer pearls

the animosity to which you attach me
is nothing but the mirrored
presence of your
fantasies

it raises up to meet me
and unfurls its flag
i should've known the warning signs
but it's hardest to see the things
that are right in front of you

Lace your words through my fingertips
You’ve got to tie me down somehow

i miss writing hearts into my eyes
and drawing bombs over my heart
and dipping it all in silver,
claiming it came from my tongue
instead of from a paint can

did you ever think about
how we could have been as famous
as those burn outs that write
songs for girl groups with lyrics
talking about *** and heartbreak
when what we wrote about was
more real than the goosebumps
i got each time i pressed "post"?

i miss the vagueness, the inspiration
that flowed through me without
my even needing to try, just
sitting down at a keyboard and slamming
it against my forehead until songs
spilled out of it like silver

we were the best of poetry pen pals
that only looked to each other for
the words to say that guarded us
against the words said against us
when we got off our computers

write to me again?

And I always thought it was funny
That the first letters in “hello”
Spell “hell”

15+ elderly relatives
States away
Parents and sister
States away
Friends from college
Hundreds of miles away
And me?
Stuck in my dorm alone
Watching for the sun