I wake up to blue light
I see it when I close my eyes

frustrated and weighted by comparison
I filter my intensity
condense my personality
I show tongue and teeth but no failures or flaws

I see you in your squares, in all your glow
I want to see the dirt under your fingernails
want you to see me cry, my pores up close, counting your eyelashes
I don't want to see twenty pictures res of the same sunset
cascading down a feed that never fulfills
shades changed and tweaked at exposure
I am exposed ever day
but am I known
I want to see the world by your side
not through your phone
hear the sunsets reflect in your tone

I don't want to lose a bet with myself that I don't stare I don't scroll
lose my evening to a screen
my life to anxiety of how people see me
but I want to be seen

I want to know you beyond squares
and validation screams content for moments till I review my content
view myself in the eyes of another
a narcissistic shudder
I doubt and judge myself
wishing not to compare not to care
yet impulse is too lovable
addiction and algorithmic luring
habits savaged a daily instinct
to share
to show my life through squares

Stubborn in necessity
she purists the enigma of the sky
so swiftly she can walk on water
advancing with the tides

The ivy knows no boundary
Its trespass beckons open invitations
to nature's play ground
where hibernation feels like home

We who encourage this intrusion
onwards and upwards it curls around and we drown our fresh anguish
counting seconds between thunder
surrender sweet lyrics of the night

I am in awe at her
the illusion of evergreen
In strength and beauty
her laugh chimes dawn
she is between worlds
and we burrow in the avalanche of morning

If the land was free
then we wouldn't spend eternity
trying to own some

If life was assigned meaning
Would you find means to ignore it

If our time was endless
I wouldn't spend mine staring
Or maybe I would

There would definitely be more urgency to preserve
I urge you to see this regardless

Your beauty may birth from shaved legs
red clown lips, gaudy eyeshadow
flimsy black crumbles beneath
your eyelid
You are ****-sun-kissed;
I am opaque.
Blotches of color
Lighten my smile

cheekbones never as sharp
as your words