you hurt like ache
and adderall
and arnica

you hurt like bruises
and battle scars
and broken bones

you hurt like cuts
and *******
and countryside

you hurt like death
and destruction
and die-hard

you hurt like electricity
and emergency rooms
and edit-undo

you hurt like *******'s
and fire
and fallen trees

you hurt like garbage cans
and gonorrhea
and gang ****

you hurt like hell
and holes in the road
and heartache

you hurt like israel
and illness
and ignition fumes

you hurt like jaundice
and jugular veins
and jack in the box

you hurt like karma
and kissing
and kerosine lamps

you hurt like lightning
and love
and literary terms

you hurt like mother
and mary
and moses

you hurt like nakedness
and nosebleeds
and nervous breakdowns

you hurt like oil spills
and old yeller
and oral quizzes

you hurt like parkinson's
and parties
and panic

you hurt like queens
and questions
and quantum physics

you hurt like rogaine
and roses
and rope burn

you hurt like solar power
and stomach aches
and ***

you hurt like teeth cleanings
and tar
and tobacco

you hurt like ulcers
and underwear
and unrequited love

you hurt like viruses
and venus fly traps
and vapor rub

you hurt like warning signs
and weight gain
and war

you hurt like x-rays
and x marks the spot
and xoxo

you hurt like your mom
and your dad
and you

you hurt like zig zags
and zero
and zip ties

*(a.m.c.)

would it be cliche of me
to say your smile reminds me
of warm summer nights sitting on
the hood of my grandpa's pickup
truck looking at the constellations
in skies far away?

the wavelengths that your fingertips
cause on my skin are too much
for me to bear and the frequencies in
my mind are enough to cause
an early heart attack

would it be ridiculous of me
to tell you that your eyes are
music to my ears with symphonies
of string instruments and mozart's
sonatas playing constantly echoing
off of granite counter tops?

i photographed the way the veins
in your neck look like pine trees and
your cracked lips are rocky shores
where the ocean thunders into a storm.

*(a.m.c.)