the hospital whiteboard
for the 21-year-old patient
has some sunny goals
"spend time with family"
"happy 4th of July"
upbeat aspirations
for a kid heading to the OR
to get sliced and diced
for ***** donation

I never meant to push,
I didn't push.
My question wasn't why won't you,
I didn't know what changed,
What went wrong.
I told you I wasn't interested in sneaking away,
Hiding out to do something,
Trapped in corners of school grounds.
I never asked for PDA,
Or mouth to mouth anything.
All I wanted was to hold you close,
With your head on my shoulder,
As the fireworks went over.
But when I said I didn't want to creep away,
You started to fade,
Icing me out once again.
I never asked for anything more,
Than to be slightly romantic,
It's not like your friends don't know us.
You want me to love you around mine,
So why can't we so much as hold each other,
When yours are around?

Serene are the stars
that lights the past
Timeless, a love
held close to the heart