you cannot just walk in and out of my life.
I am not a door.
I am not a robot, so do not treat me as if my feelings don't matter, because I'm human, not anything else.

The only thing stopping you
Is that massive unclimbable boulder
You pretend can't be walked around.

Beauty is measured
by how much
my knees bend—
gravity’s quiet courtship
the earth insisting
on closeness

Not the tilt
or the slack of my jaw
the slow spill of light
on my cheek
the angle at which
I yield—
to the sheer amount
of oos and awes
to the slight dip of a petal
before it falls

Your beauty does not ask
for much—only for
a gesture of reverence—
explaining why
I am on my knees
every time
I see you

We’re in a young-love recession.
Gen Zers are slow to trust and averse to risk,
we have, it seems, a particular social nervousness
about interpersonal exchanges and the symbiosis of love.

So we resort to situationships (undefined relationships),
a stratagem for closeness, with zero commitment.

You can flirt; you can kiss; you can dance.
You can have a crush so big it blots out the stars
You can have transformative romantic encounters
you can care deeply and get hurt badly
you can, in fact, be absolutely wrecked by love
All without ever being in a relationship.

Thank God we’re only young once.
.
.
Songs for this:
Die With A Smile by Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
Busy Woman by Sabrina Carpenter

As I stare upon the sea,
I see myself dancing
between the waves,
wishing I were free
from all this pain.

One tear drops,
adding mass to
the already disdained.

I can’t be certain
if it will be washed away,
for I’m controlled by pain—
the same way the moon controls
the way the sea sways.

The copper bells glisten
Swaying in the sunshine
I pause as I listen
To the tinkling
Of the wind chimes

In the distance, they ring
A gentle melody -
I hear their songs
The unsaid words they sing

How sweet is their music
Sweet the joy they bring
Such is the wonder -
The magic of little things