It whistled as it ran
Its footsteps sank into wet ground
Wet with the blood of her tears
That fell without a sound
It ruffled the grass
And the blades danced along
Swaying to the beat of the drums
And only she can hear the song
A black umbrella, she carried
But it tried to lift away
She fought to keep it in her hands
But like her dignity, it escaped
She saw them clawing up
Their festered hands polluted the soil
But she could do nothing about it
Because no one else ever sees her turmoil
Her footsteps crushed their bones
But they had persistent hues
Hues, but not souls
And a new soul, she grew
She had too much compassion
And now has her own personal ghost
Tracing her every step
Encouraging to leave her post
He made her weak
But it was her mistake
She dug up his heart again
And make the vault of souls quake
Never again, she said
And let his heart go free
But it remained still in her hand
And she ceased to breathe

There's something about a distinct sharpness in your ribs
That is accompanied by scarce breaths
That makes your head ache
So that your nails dig into your flesh
There's something about silent smiles
And unreachable thoughts
That can only come every once and a while
Because no one has make me laugh that hard
In a very long time

there’s something about the way i’ve hit my
head on the awards on the wall
that makes me love
this place.
it’s the specks of maroon in the evergreen carpet
and the way we
used to sit on the table too
close together.
i love the way that the wheels
of the chairs catch on the computer cords
and the coffee stains
on the floor.
it’s the whiteboard we built
and the movie
we watched
and all
all
all
of the ink smeared on
our fingers and our
faces
that makes me wish i could never forget this
and also that i entirely,
completely
could.

Puddles pooling on the ground
Rain falling like teardrops without a sound
It's warm one day then cold the next
I'm so sick of trying for the best
The sky is blue, then it's grey
Springtime comes then wastes away
We all want summer but I love spring
Never knowing what the next day will bring
Maybe love or maybe tears
Maybe digging up our deepest fears
Wind howling like angry shouts
Thunder clapping nice and loud
Nothing's easy but that's okay
I think it's supposed to be that way
But spring leaves like everything else
Just returning later to bring more hell
Flowers bloom beneath our feet
Drowning in the best and worst spring we've ever seen.

Late night questions that make us both feel and paper airplanes dance to the rhythm of a Taylor Swift song
The fridge is open and it's dark outside
But the only light we need is from each others eyes
Because not even the stars believe what they're seeing
On late night walks the snow dusts our hair like confetti
And the sky smiles down on us and wonders why we didn't think of it sooner
Our shared hot chocolate has red lipstick on the rim
And I still can't believe that I'm looking at him
With linked hands we cuddle on the couch with a movie we intended to see
But just end up talking through the entire thing
But one can't forget about the screaming and fights where you won't feel enough
And I'll feel a little too much
Your eyes are a rainstorm and I am the sea
Both fighting to win and fighting to release
I swear we'll be a hopeless mess in every way
But I think I wouldn't want it any other way

I think that as poets we see the world differently than everyone else
We see broken concrete and wonder what secrets it can tell
And every tick of the clock tells a story if you care enough to listen
And nights spent asleep are because inspiration is missing
Old paper makes you wonder if you could have loved a person who held it before
And broken hearts make you write with the ink being tears on the floor
The sky is a masterpiece and we must all be stars
Because nothing else could even come close to what poets are
So when the stars explode and hearts begin to break
It's a beautiful thing and will be written about for days

I'm so sorry that I'm so clingy
I'm so sorry that I can't let go
But there is no way you could ever actually know
Just how I feel about this
Or you
Or anything
And every time you disappear I have to get used to being okay again
And then you come back
Expecting things to be totally fine like it was then
But every time you come back I realize how much I missed you
And how bad I am at letting go
This needs to stop
But you just don't know.

Don't lie to me
You know when I'm there and you know when I'm not
But maybe I'm only relevant when you're lonely and I'm lost

And I won't lie to you
Because when you stood up there and sang with that girl
It all but broke my heart
Because one week ago I was in your room and you were in my arms

But honestly
I feel better about this than I ever have before
Because my heart didn't stop and my veins didn't clench when you walked through the door

I've been denying it but
It's not like it was a great night or even a great hookup

And I don't need or lie to myself
Pretending that you're worth it
In your Hawaiian shirt
On ******* December first

You're the kind of guy that people write teen fiction novels about
But not for me, babe, don't hear me out
I'm going to just walk far, far away
Maybe you really didn't see me there anyway

Bring me back to life
Liberty is my final right
Seeking souls and breaking light
Winner's love is loser's strife
So look at me through those pretty eyes
See through my mask see through my lies
Silence as a final cry

A job is a job
Until it’s really not
But if you don’t care about it
Or the people
Then it’s nothing at all
And you can’t really lead them
Unless you can be them
And If you can’t be them
Then leave them
And if you can
You want to see them
Succeed and believe
And be everything that they can be
Because a job is a job
Until it’s nothing at all.

We all have those dreams where someone walks up to you to ask
Where is your dinosaur or why you aren't wearing shoes
And I'd be okay with that if that person wasn't you

love is watching glass shatter before you can pick it up
love is slicing open your heart to let someone in and then dripping blood
love is holding something so close even though it hurts
love is trying even though it won't work
but love is also the stitches that pull your heart back together
and the words written on your hands that say "it gets better"
love is the butterflies in your stomach and in your head
love is the smile they can't see when it's late and you're in bed
love is talking to someone until you drift off to sleep
and knowing in the end, they were worth the fighting and the weeping
some say love is blind but that's objective
someone once told me it's simply a change in perspective
as beautiful and painful and difficult as love is
it is almost always worth every minute

I don't want another person
I don't need anyone else
And I don't want your explanations
I don't need your help

You say there are more people in the world
But you know I'm kind of picky
Even if the only one I want
Doesn't really want anything from me

So through the shortness of breath
And the aching in my chest
I tell you I don't need you
But I don't say it's a test

You could have my whole world if you asked
I could give you 150 reasons
Why you're not just a person
And I don't want the rest.

Quietly, you roam my shadows
Those of thoughts that used to be
Among dead feelings under headstones
That, thanks to you, are awakening
You leave no footprints
Where your ghostly form resides
In the crevice under my heart
And between my veins inside
I want escape; I need it
But you inject poison into me-
Blood laced with flattery and soaked in haunting memories
My head spins, as does my heart
Blurry images are all I see
I don't know who I am
And I've lost my grip on reality
I hate you; I hate you
Why can't you just leave me alone?
Pack up your syringes and needles
Because I'm to disoriented to make you go
I try to move my fingers
But I am no longer my own
Whose am I is the a question
And why can't I rule on the throne?

please, darling, don't do this again
i pour out my heart and you say "let's just stay friends"
i see right through you like i always do
and I think you don't really want to
sure it would "be best"
but nothing is ever best with us-
everything is always a mess
think about it, babe, you know i'm right
so, ******* it, let's not fight
let's start something new compared to what has happened before
and do it differently because that doesn't work  anymore
i almost do and you wish you would
but guess what, this time we actually could
i get the silent message that i'm going out a whim
and assuming the impossible: that we could begin again
but, baby, i'd be your arrow if you'll be my bow
don't let this go or we might never know
i'll be your stars if you'll be my sky
blue in the mornings and pitch black at night
but i know places that we could hide
and if you give us a chance this could be it
and my final request is that we don't look back and realize what we missed
just one final plea
think about it
then tell me.

I need you more than anyone, okay?
And you're the one that's never here
You don't know what it's like,do you?
Because I would always be there for you
If you want to have me you need to be here
Even when it hurts
How much can you expect me to do?
I'm only one person who's barely making my way through
I'm just
Watching, hoping, waiting
For you
Wishing, wanting, praying
That you will see this through
Please just...
Be here.
Don't leave.
Hold me close.
And love me.

When I'm with you
Everything is different
Or just maybe
Everything's the same
Your touch is toxic
Burning holes in my skin
But it might as well be
The only thing keeping this alive
I don't know what to do
In person
I love you
Without you
I feel free
I need my space
But I just don't know
How to tell you
Or how to leave
How do I feel?
I wish I knew
I can't think about never
Touching
Kissing
Holding
You again
But I can't think about
Future
Commitment
Love
And not even **fear

you taste like ashes and Colectivo coffee and everything that i hate
it’s a bad idea with an accelerated heart rate
and you feel like a one am decision no longer up for debate

but your sheets are warm and you smell like soap and cheap cologne
and two seconds later my lips are bruised and my shirt is torn
by the sound of muffled footsteps and a hidden groan

and i know you made it clear that i could stay
tangled in your feet and in your reckless ways
but after the actors finish the play
i guess they have to leave anyway

blood drips off of a melting clock
feathers fluttering on the ground
one shot: two birds
falling apart and stumbling around
blurred eyes make living hard
i can't see what's in front of me
you and i together for(n)ever
fire set to names carves in trees
rosy cheeks and bloodshot eyes
snow falling through the gloomy air
frozen tears from angels fall
and we won't why we're even there
i see you breaking and i hear your cries
in my haunting dreams at night
i wake up but i'm too scared of seeing nothing
to even turn on the light

Bookshelves are like apartment complexes,
with woody browns and dusty greys that they
just won’t let you paint over.

Rick Riordan and J. K. Rowling live with
their best friend, Cassandra Clare,
in the penthouse,
because we all had great childhood loves
filled with library-book paper cuts
and worn and scotch-taped pages.

Tolkien is merely an elevator ride below
and Austen is only a cheap oak door away,
because they are as dramatic as pre-teen girls were about Justin Bieber,  
and traveling to Mordor and
loving Mr. Darcy
is basically the same anyway.

But Frost and Dickinson live across the hall from
Hughes and Homer,
because everyone stops for death and
roads less traveled by,
and even though no one ever saw Emily,
they all thought they were very popular.

The bottom floor is filled with sundry residents
that no one sees as they come and go.
They just hear the dogs barking and doors slamming,
(Old Man Shakespeare wants them to leave him alone.)
but every teen fiction novel has a Romeo and Juliet story
and a broken boy and a dog.

And so if bookshelves are like apartment complexes?
Where will I live, and
could I even be
a resident?

you can't change your words once they've been sung
like you can't ***** out the stars or bury the sun
what you said you can never take back
and when you said 'go away' i was almost okay with that
because the sky's not red; it's still blue
and no twisted words are better than the truth
the grass is still green and the sun still shines
i'm still broken and there's still sorrow in your eyes
nothing has changed and i don't think i mind
reality is a comforting blanket in the middle of the night
i still eat leftovers for breakfast and ride the bus to school
the only difference is now i don't need you

It's only been ten minutes
And I already feel like running back to him
But I have to stay strong
And I have to stay brave
Because I've needed to breathe for too long
But it's time for a rest
My heart deserves at least that
Right?
I'm sorry.
I wish I could tell him I'm sorry
Because I dragged this on for too long
And I was starting to worry
That I'd never get out
It's true when you're drowning in tears,
That's when you can breathe

I remember being as angry as you are now
Wondering who, and what, and when, and where and how
And I remember questioning how you could lie about someone for so long
Swearing you liked someone with stupid hair and bare arms

And I distinctly remember breaking when you asked him out
Even though it was stupid and high school and it doesn't matter now
You guys are best friends now, too, I think
And that still really truly baffles me

Because we have both ****** up and we both have lied
And it's been over stupid things and feelings and guys
But being friends as adults, I think
Is realizing that people will never be perfect and that's why they drink

It's about taking responsibility and moving on
And I don't know what else you want to me to say 'cause honestly, he's gone
I'm sorry and I'm sorry and yeah I was wrong
But I was angry for who knows how long

So if you ever need me I guess I'll be here
Because that's what I did before and after we shed a couple tears
And talked **** about each other and ran around in circles
We just wrote a couple poems and wrote a couple verses

I completely understand where you are coming from
So that's why I'm not upset or in denial or pleading that I didn't do anything wrong
Because it wasn't supposed to happen that way, and well, it did
But that's life, and maybe you'll learn that eventually
Just like I did.

I think I just realized the every feeling I've ever had for you,
Good or bad,
Is documented somewhere in a notebook or in my head
And again I'm not sure if that's good or bad
Because it either makes me happy, embarrassed, or sad
I think it's time to close that book
I think I've run out of ripped pages to mend
And that's okay
Because every love story needs an end