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989 · May 2017
Just like that
just like that
there was a switch in her mind that flipped

And reasonable democracy
gave way
to sovereign dictatorship

something about the way you cradled your coffee mug in your palm

while trying to open the car door and talk on the phone to your brother
at the same time

took away her option of resistance

She became overwhelmed by the way you leaned your body against door frames and talked with both hands

The way you concentrated
every time you stirred your coffee with a spoon

They all became like a flood to her and in that forceful deluge, her list of pros and cons washed away and she was left with only you.

clumsy, beautiful you.
818 · May 2017
Moleskin
You got me hooked on Moleskin journals.
It might not seem like much,
but when you consider that it's the vessel
into which I daily pour myself,
Like some bank account, holding all my emotional savings,
it's a pretty substantial influence.
So thanks.

You got me hooked on being known.
Not the "name her favorite color/album/flavor" kind of known.

The "ask me how I am, because you hear the trace amounts of fakeness in my laughter" kind of known.



Before you,
I thought being loved was like being admired but on steroids.

Now I see it's more like

a quiet walk
home from class every evening.

there are a dozen other ways,
different bike routes or
back roads you could take

but you would never think to.

Your day would be incomplete without the path your feet
first were drawn to,

you can't bear to miss it
the winding bends in the road and the blossoms you always pause to breathe in.

both familiar and new every evening.
480 · May 2017
Imbalanced
I've discovered your indifference
burns stronger
than any shot of whiskey

and, unlike whiskey,
there is no grandfather's secret tomato juice recipe
to cure the hangover
your  c a s u a l  interest
gives me.

your kisses leave me dizzy
but their lack of substance gives me
a sugar headache

I've never been held so gently
but under such temporary tenderness
my bones bend and break

your compliments strike me
like foul ***** during a game

they always sound good when they smack
against the bat


but at the end of the inning
they don't count.

I wish I could sweep you off your feet
The way you swept me off of mine.

But we were not built like planes or rockets,
We can't both be airborne at the same time.
439 · May 2017
Mine
You and me come

From the same places and people

Same squinty blue eyes

Over morning bowls of cereal

Same burning passion for ginger ale, home fries and tea
same fear of commitment
same insecurities

I've always been afraid of you

Being too much

like me

But I am the most
unoriginal person
I know

I guess I was scared you would do a better job imitating my idols

It's been hard to watch you grow

But despite my childish competitive nature,
I'm happily defeated
You won me over


Sincerely,
Your biggest critic
And your most ardent admirer
324 · Jun 2017
An Extrovert's Defense
I wear my heart on my sleeve,
But please, don't misinterpret my emotional ravings to mean that
You know me .
I have a dozen different hearts,
I can change them like cuffs

That's why I don't guard them
too closely.

I'll cut myself open,
Spill my guts in an instant,
Because
Answering your questions,
Before you can ask them,
Is how I control
which ones
get asked.
I'll tell my sad story with a joke at the end
nail the timing
I guarantee you they will only remember
My laugh

I am open to the point of being closed
I am open to the point of being closed
I'm a theme park with gates left unlocked for so long
that eventually
nobody goes.
288 · Aug 2017
Fragments
I am the very bottom of a bag of chips
Small and Broken

Too Fragmented to be Functional

Too Crushed to carry the salsa to your mouth

you should  just throw me out !

Open up a new one
It's what I would do-
But you don't!
I'll never figure you out.
thoughts on Gods love for me
If I'm to find you,
Let me find you in the shade
The sun reveals too much
I might scare and run away

If I'm to love you
Let me love you slowly
                   over time
I'm so rapidly wrapped up
Still more rapidly
                   untied.

I've always thought I needed
this feeling of flying
But I could try
s l o w  and  s t e a d y
Less free fall,
more climbing

It isn't fair
Spinning you around like this
I know.

But I'm no good at gardening
Always pulling
flowers up
before they can grow.
38 · Jan 2018
Poem Nine
In the end,
Each one is to himself
a haunted house.
The monsters grow big feeding on the
thoughts we won't air out.
Cobwebs form from private fears, and the stairs creak beneath our heavy doubts.
Let a little light in,
you're not as scary as you tell yourself.

— The End —