Don't know how we got here
Got lost on some side street
Forgot all about the freeway,
Tell me your address
I will send you postcards,
All the places I touched
The ones that touched back
The intersections are all green
So proceed with caution upon this heart

After the chatter of evening
A hush floods the room
The willow seeps the moon
Upon the yard in its wake,
She's been dancing for hours now,
Making a mausoleum
of this home

Somedays I wonder,
How it all came out to this
Was it the ring of the chamber
The echo of the glass,
Emptied and dry,
Your wine red as his blood,
Both left oceans of rooms,
They left for fear of drowning,
I have not yet sailed off,
Stuck in this fish tank
With no air left

The anatomy of my country,
I am learning to understand the rivers
I know they are the veins that flow to the heartland
This heart, lying somewhere in Nebraska
Where the land is wide and golden, it pumps in tune
The hands of New York or Los angeles,
The ones that have touched so much and love far too well,
They give and they take and give back again,
So much to hold far too much to feel,
These legs lying somewhere in florida or Arizona
I do not know if it is the tropics of the desert heat
But they know the way the world moves,
The head lies somewhere in north Dakota
Such a sound mind, for she knows what she wants,
Such shoulders of Seattle or Maine,
whispering to the rest of the body some cry for remembrance,
Way up there in the cold of december,
The inner thigh of Louisiana,
Such excitement and wonder,
Let me touch it for a little while welcomed me in,
The between of Texas, The ribs of Maryland or Virginia,
A stomach lies in Missiouri,
The lungs of Wyoming
All pumping themselves back to heartland
The rivers know their way,
The excess of my love has run off to the atlantic
Poured itself into the pacific,
I am caressing the carolinas,
The anatomy of my country.
Has taught me the love of the plains
and the wonder to touch the oceans,
She is everything, She is always,
And she is teaching me the difference

These finish lines lining my gut,
Scars of past encounters
Ive ran far too fast and far too long
to still be standing up straight,
My shoulders ripped from corner to corner,
A snake of a lesion lies between them,
hissing and curling itself into some knot,
For years now it has slept,
Cracked and shed it’s skin; strewn in ribbons across the floor,
Leaving nothing but that vice grip reminder
that it is only thing I have left of myself

I know that sunsets are the beginning of evening
I know that the night is some old romantic
I know the winter is the hardest for me
seeing all the life wither to a corpse
I know graveyards are just earthly beds
that burying bodies together makes it easier
for us to go through the afterlife instead of alone,
I know trumpets and saxophones still hold my heart
the warmth of their sounds melt away my fears,
I know that if I am to love I have to surrender
I know the boy in me is still struggling to become a man,
I know my heart is still heavy with you leaving
3 years now and counting, feels like the clocks stopped ticking
I know my mother is trying
I know my father is giving his best shot at remembrance
I know that there is still so much I’ve yet to learn
that everyday is to be made a lesson
I know I will continue to make amends
to build back the bridges i’ve burned
with all the timber left in my chest

17 years of bad luck and counting,
I find myself walking underneath ladders,
Black cats tend to cross my path,
Mirrors crack in my wake,
The reaper and I are close relatives,
See each other on holidays or birthdays
or unsuspected thursdays,
This has made me a corpse of myself
No longer afraid of commitment
but of myself, this fear of losing you
This pain of up all night rejecting all of my insides,
Flushing feelings like dead aquatics,
I care for you too much to see you hurt

What a storm cloud
Making a mess of my land
Flooding my gardens
Drowning my fields
You and all your life
You with all this love
I would construct continents
Raise all your cities
Claim the unknown in your name
Just to hold your light
One ray at a time

These time capsules
Filled to the brim with colored memories
Each one addressed to a day
Taken at meals or in-between them
I am starting to dissolve
They are too
Seeping into my bloodstream
These little capsules of dreams
Break them open
Breath them in
Maybe I will see the ocean
when the bottle is empty

She is in love with the stars
All the unknowns, the expanse of the sky,
Tells me about the everything and nothingness,
Most times I don't really understand
Too infatuated with her eyes, wide and gleaming,
Twin Orions,

I try to explain to her my love affair with words
The everything and nothingness they hold
Recently her skies have been flooding my pages,
All the blacks and blues that hang high above
Staining my notebooks cover to cover

When it's all over,
As the faces fade,
When the hum of
fluorescents cease,
And the engines
sputter to a halt,
All that remains
are the oceans
Inside of us,
And the words
made in their wake

Fifth and final, All written to you,
The keeper of these words,
Whatever this becomes,
Know that it is simple,
Understand that this is good,
One day I hope you’ll look back
on the memories and laugh

You are the ink in my pen,
The words of these pages,
All the rhyme to my reasons,
You with the smile full and wide
like the country, or the backwood,
The inspiration behind all this,

I’ve carved kingdoms out of my heart,
A fortress in my chest,
Raised my flag in surrender,
Gave way to your love,
Rule as you wish,
I do not want to defend myself anymore

These rainstorms stole my heart,
This feeling I’ve professed,
Let it ring out loud,
Forget the physicality of it all,
To know the difference,
Between the sound of another,
And the cries of your own
Such a sinful security,
What a way to love,
Ive fallen too **** hard,
and too **** fast,
To be thinking like this.

The day brings dawn,
Sunlight across your face,
Outlining the most precious of frames,
What a masterpiece in it’s borders,
Venus can do you no justice,
So many questions to ask,
Searching for the answers,
I’ve held my tongue for weeks now,
Too infatuated with your tones,
To care much about anything else

I am writing these with the thought of you,
Addressed pages with an unsure pen,
I do not know this feeling well,
An old friend lost for so many years now,
What a cold winter it has been,
Such a cruel rain that has fallen,
My hope is that you’ll hold these close,
Remember the words in your silent hours,
May they be a harbor to your storms,
Or the warmth in december,
Lay your dreams on these sheets,
Rest your bones just a little while longer

Tell me when it has been enough,
Let me know when these bodies have run dry
When the sidewalks have been painted good and red,
You can’t brush off the blood, It just fades a little bit,
A patch just slightly darker than the rest,
They’ll take the other streets, blind to the madness,
Forget about the graveyards they’ve made of neighborhoods,
When targets have names and the lead expires too **** soon,
Tell me when it has been enough
Let me know when your heart has been pierced too
Than maybe you can understand

Draining me of this september sorrow,
Drawing the wind back to my sails,
I've raised anchor,
Journeyed past those ocean depths,
Set my course for Elysium,
That paradise of your skin,
The taste on your lips,
I've eyed your neck,
Want my words upon it,
Written in shades of purple,
What a hunger we carry
Ready to sink our teeth in
To the crimson of this heat

Back over seas
What a nightmare of a memory
Making mountains of men
What dust I have become
Such a parasite of a man
I've come to this land
Sold it my innocence
There is not enough person
Left in this body,
To make it back home

After you left again,
I cried tears like the river
Black as the styx
Dark as my demons,
Below the surface
This twisted arms race
What a contorted love,
Be my bridge,
I fear of drowning,
All over again,
In the safety of your skin

Heaven faced
Angel of the night
Wings and all
Took me to Hesperides
Dropped me amongst the willows
I sang her songs
Mourned her sorrows
Got drunk on her words
Slept along the riverbank
Woke to the silence of winter
The lonely of the rain,
Wishing for your gentle wings
To take me once more

Taking off the shroud,
Enough of the bandages,
I'm steady bleeding,
Been that way for awhile,
Running red like a river,
Cold as your winters,
Up there in New England,

This back and forth,
The static on the screen
‘In rainbows’ on repeat,
Hoping this videotape,
Will roll the credits,
Waiting to hear the words
The hero never spoke

What chained me to this?
When did I lose my freedom?
This stutter in my finger tips,
The shaking of my bones,
Every hour spent wondering,
When you’ll next return to me

Your body’s borders,
These walls crumbled,
All this unclaimed land,
Ready for the taking,
Conquer these cliffs
Sail my seas,
This nation of mine,
Brought to it’s knees

Withered Innards
No beauty in the beast,
Where is the medicine?
Do not be some savior,
When something is broken,
It is easier to find a new one.

Rumor has it
The gentle of midnight
Has held this simple bed
Lay me down upon it,
Play a chorus of skin
I hope you read every word
I've never spoke

Conversations of the islands,
Paper lantern illuminating,
All the glories that you are,
I wasn’t even in the mood,
Just needed to be close to you again,
Watching the rain on your glass,
And the laughter in your eyes

On this hillside,
I eyed down the tides,
Watched you roll on in,
Back and forth
This game of chance,
Be my always,
Tell me about forever,
Im tired of writing valentines,
To unrequited lovers

When september comes
I'll remember when you were here,
Before all the bouquets and tombstones,
The house on the hill,
Asleep in the backseat,
Watching street lamps on quiet corners,
Waiting to knock on your door,
when september comes,
I'll visit your earthly bed,
Remember all the different reasons,
Why we wished you stayed

It's been weeks now
The wantings have gotten the best of me
The taste of your skin so golden
Every twilight bares the thought of you
I promised myself not to give in
But that oath is long gone
So I'll retain my distance
Leave no trace behind
The path to our encounters
Remain hidden in the leaves