the scent of a rose
the light of a sun
the glowing from a moon
the dust from a star
the tablecloth on your table
the tree's roots cutting into the earth
a world behind a window
the rain sounding from comfort
sea salt spraying coarse sand
an aesthetic
what a bore

i get *******
my brain gets tangled
i dive head first
my heart gets strangled

Sounds like New York,
That noise that comes out,
Out of her mouth,
Sounds like New York

You live across the bridge,
And we meet there each day,
I just need to say,
You sound like New York

We’ll shoot clay pigeons in the dark,
We’ll talk to John Henry,
We’ll watch Submarines,
We’ll share a bag of toffee

Sounds like New York,
Sounds like New York,
Sounds like New York,

She sounds like New York

If you believe in love
You will stay
No abandonment
No shame
Hold your heart steady
People aren't toys to play
Royalty to be seen
Treated like kings and queens
Putting troubled minds at ease

I can't drink or smoke
when you leave

I leave the windows open
tempting a breeze
to bring in the scent
of flowers and summer
rain

They remind me
of you

the way that rain
falls onto a flower
and drips, drips
down into the
soil

the yellows
and oranges of
the petals
burn

our faces reflect
in the dirt and I know
that we'll never be
clean again

A friend asked me
how to be a writer.
I wanted to say,
lock yourself in a room,
scream until you have
a poem and no voice.
Open your veins and bleed
until you know that your bones
are pure words and sorrow.
Act as if you slit your own throat
and all you can bleed
are your own regrets
and all of the darkness
you boxed up for inspiration.
Write your mom a letter,
tell her you're leaving
and you won't be back for awhile
Because being a writer is traveling
through all seven layers of Hell
and denying anything is wrong.
Forget loving yourself
when all you have is a pen and paper
fused to your wrist
and Jesus is tapping at your skull
saying turn back now.
Warn the neighbors that if they smell burning
It's just your soul
clawing at the front door trying to get in.
Learn how to be alone.
Learn how to lose everything you have
in order to feel release,
learn how to only feel deceased
from now on.
A friend asked me
how to be a writer.
All I said was
don't