Caroline loves the ocean.  
Her soul sails on a Carolina breeze.
But her music's in the mountains,
and her heart's back home
where it needs to be.

I'm stuck here
in a Carolina wind,
wading in the ocean
with my heart in Tennessee,
and my mind on Caroline.

Carolina's got everything
a man could want.
Everything he needs.
It's got the mountains and the ocean.
It has a Carolina breeze.

He has everything but Caroline;
everything but Tennessee.

r ~ 6/22/14

The one by that always-busy movie theater
In the parking lot where you picked me up
On our first date
Because we had met online
And you could've been a serial killer.

The one we ventured into as part of
Our many-adventure date that consisted
Of awkward conversation
And driving to various locations
Most people don't typically go on dates to.

The one your car was parked in front of
When we made out in your front seat
Until my mom came
Because I didn't have my license
And you were too enthralled by me to care.

Staring from afar, he noticed that you noticed him and
your eyes cross paths
Neither knows whether to quickly shift or let it last.
But as the corners of his lips curl upward slightly
You're glad you held your glance, and smile back delightedly.
*But when he licks his lips and his brows raise
You're disgusted, he stares while your focus has changed

Isn't it funny we dealt with it the same way.
We ran to woods at the end of the day.
I was the one who talked to you the whole while
And I was the one, who helped you reclaim your smile.
Yet when I when I ran off, there was a cruel twist of fate
Because off to go find me, went the girl that you hate.

And I hate her for it.

In public, you're afraid
and sometimes I am too.
But, having you by my side
makes me feel fearless,
what about you?
You might sneak a kiss,
but I'll try to hold your hand.
You'll pull back, was that
a terrible demand?
I hate hiding, its all I ever do.
I just want to show the world
just how much I love you.
Isn't that enough,
why can't they see?
That I am in love
why can't we just be?
She makes me feel the Sun
and light in my heart.
And all of this is because
she loved me from the start.
I love her, and I know that
will not ever go away.
Because we need each other,
I am here to stay.

I had a father,
he was a kind man.
I'm not the kind of man
he was.

I try hard,
sometimes I fail.
I still look for him
in the mirror.

He fought two wars;
didn't make him strong.
He did that on his own;
he fought his own wars.

Looking back
now that he's gone,
I have to stop and wonder
what was in the water.

My old man
was the kind of man
that someday I hope to see
in the mirror.

r ~ 6/14/14

thursday, late in the afternoon,
she was silently mouthing the
lines of The Sun Also Rises
as he read them out loud.
"the taxi went up the hill,
passed the lighted square, then
on into the dark, still climbing..." --
her eyes were closed; she was smiling.
he continued to read. she got
distracted -- his shirt was a deep
blue colour, she imagined her hands
undoing its buttons, her hands
softly sliding it down his back,
resting on his waist. "...and my mind
stopped jumping around and started
to go in sort of smooth waves... "
she imagined softly kissing his shoulder
or burying her head in this hair.
she opened her eyes and watched
his hands turning over the novel's
pages, wondered how those hands
would feel running through her hair,
wondered if his voice would be this ****
in the morning, and what his hair
would look like when he just got out
of the shower. "it is awfully easy to be
hard-boiled about everything in the
daytime, but at night it is another thing."
she looked outside. the sky was an
unusual shade that reminded her
of nectarines. the sun was setting.

O,
to be
Manet
with Nana
on that morning
before the stroke
of brush did touch
her cheeks with blush
of immoral immortality.

r ~ 6/11/14

Placed on the spot, People walking by
Eyes shift to my direction,
Snickering and smiling
My anxiety rising
Trying to grip reality,
My superficial temple artery starts pounding, as my heart rate rises.

I can't take this any more I must find the door.