i don't want you back,
but sometimes your name tumbles out when i'm searching for words

i don't want you back,
but sometimes i think of you and it hurts

i don't want you back,
i know we can't be

i don't want you back,
but i want to know you're happy

i don't want you back,
but i don't want you to hurt

no, i don't want you back,
but i don't want you with her

I never considered myself one for the books,
A pen felt clumsy in my hands,
Something too delicate to touch,

You introduced me to my first romance,
Tales of rivers and sweet words of Hughes,
Pages were my optics, my eyes danced in the light,

Nights turned into highways of jazz and beat poet longings,
Kerouac and Ginsberg whispering into my ear
of corrupted ivy manifestos,

Maya told me to sing, I did.
My love for her still echoes in her passing,
Set sail to the open waters where Neruda lies,
sonnet 17 afloat upon the tides,

You knew my addiction before I ever got high on the ink,
Drifting across the sentences in the midnight hours,
A prayer in thanks of what you gave to me

It is only a little word, but carries so much on its shoulders.
Often overlooked as an emotion when placed next to the big ones:
fear, love, hate, jealousy, happiness, greed.
Without it what would we be?
What purpose would we have?
It is a catalyst from which dreams are cast
and possibilities reached.
As an idea it is only touched upon, but without it nothing would be worth following through.
Nothing would drive us
Life would lack ambitions.
When it is gone everything seems broken
no last gasping chances left.
It is embedded in every aspect of life
and yet it quietly hides.
When uttered, it sounds weak,
but can be strong enough to move mountains,
overthrow governments and rattle tyrants off their throne.
Or simply it is enough to finish third in a race,
or be on time for a meeting,
or for the tests to come back negative.
Our hope.

My mother died a month ago
On a Sunday, well it was Monday
But she was dying on a Sunday
No matter the day I will always remember how she left
me
All alone in this dark cold world..

I am alone here with no one and nothing that will care
for me...

He stayed with me on nights when I was lonely.
He came the day mom died to hold me
He was here  but he wanted to be there, with his one and only
It made me sad to see that he didn't want to be with me
and even sadder to know that I was still all alone

If my mom was here she'd tell me to stop being so lonely
Brush off my dancing shoes grab a friend and go somewhere new
somewhere far away from you.
She'd say "my dear you are never alone, I will always be with you.."
My mother wouldn't want me to be sad
My mother wouldn't want me to be mad
She'd tell me to try and keep a smile on my face and remember to pray for better days.

I searched through every word
In every language spoken and unspoken
Spanning continents
Through time and space
And couldn't find one acceptable enough to replace
The one you took from the tip of my tongue
When you kissed me good morning
And left me breathless.

The stars are shining bright
Come sit with me tonight
Your hair is a perfect mess
I would never think more or less
Of you than perfection
Listen to the crickets sing
The melody of harmony

8,000 miles isn't enough
To keep me away
8,000 miles isn't enough
For me to stop loving you

We share the sky
As we dance all night
The world is alive
Buzzing with sound
Natures music is my remorse
We won't stop until the sky turns pale
Time and space aren't enough to stop me

8,000 miles isn't enough
To keep me away
8,000 miles isn't enough
For me to stop loving you

The stars are shining bright
Come sit with me tonight
Your hair is a perfect mess
I would never think more or less
Of you than perfection
Listen to the crickets sing
The melody of harmony

8,000 miles isn't enough
To keep me away
8,000 miles isn't enough
For me to stop loving you

We share the sky
As we dance all night
The world is alive
Buzzing with sound
Natures music is my remorse
We won't stop until the sky turns pale
Time and space aren't enough to stop me

The world can move on without us
I just want to live here and now

8,000 miles isn't enough
To keep me away
8,000 miles isn't enough
For me to stop loving you

Youve got me locked up
In your eyes
And the way you smile
And the way you say
"youre mine"
Over and
Over and
Over
Again
Until its engraved
in my
Mind
And you say
Youre mine
But i
Can
Hear the lie
Between your teeth
I dont speak
I dont tell you
I just stay locked in
Until i get alone
And just being
A foot
Away
Gives me
Liberty
Independence
Nostalgia
And the i realize
How captive i truely am

A boy he was
Long, long ago
As he glided into the chromed and teal druggist shop
1950s it was
Vintage years
Women in pert dresses
Men in sharp taupe suits
Filled the shop with a smoky manner
On that summer Sunday afternoon
Fan bladed just a-turnin'
Right through time itself

He saw this box before
Jeweled, valuable big music box
Been here not too long
Breathing in a flavored breath
He saw another it
The black round of pure bliss
"Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley
The white letterin' said
Letter G
Number 4
Hands ***** cold metal from warm pockets
Slipping them into the maiden's shelter
Fingers to buttons,
Arm to record
Music to shop
"Well, it's one for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to get ready,
Now go, cat, go."
Floated in mass commodity
Away the ears and mind blew in the wind
Far from his hometown
Far from his school
And far from everything he already knew...

Daydream ended too soon for his comfort
The boy stared at the flashy box
And spoke a quiet goodbye
Tile guided him out the ringing door
Concrete guided him home
Where now the older him
Lives crooked, but happy
With a dear old woman who loves him more than anything else
And a jukebox
With many records in it
But one is still on top
"Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley
In chipped, faded lettering