'Help, help, ' said a man. 'I'm drowning.'
'Hang on, ' said a man from the shore.
'Help, help, ' said the man. 'I'm not clowning.'
'Yes, I know, I heard you before.
Be patient dear man who is drowning,
You, see I've got a disease.
I'm waiting for a Doctor J. Browning.
So do be patient please.'
'How long, ' said the man who was drowning. 'Will it take for the Doc to arrive? '
'Not very long, ' said the man with the disease. 'Till then try staying alive.'
'Very well, ' said the man who was drowning. 'I'll try and stay afloat.
By reciting the poems of Browning
And other things he wrote.'
'Help, help, ' said the man with the disease, 'I suddenly feel quite ill.'
'Keep calm.' said the man who was drowning, ' Breathe deeply and lie quite still.'
'Oh dear, ' said the man with the awful disease. 'I think I'm going to die.'
'Farewell, ' said the man who was drowning.
Said the man with the disease, 'goodbye.'
So the man who was drowning, drownded
And the man with the disease past away.
But apart from that,
And a fire in my flat,
It's been a very nice day.

'Twas midnight in the schoolroom
And every desk was shut
When suddenly from the alphabet
Was heard a loud "Tut-Tut!"

Said A to B, "I don't like C;
His manners are a lack.
For all I ever see of C
Is a semi-circular back!"

"I disagree," said D to B,
"I've never found C so.
From where I stand he seems to be
An uncompleted O."

C was vexed, "I'm much perplexed,
You criticise my shape.
I'm made like that, to help spell Cat
And Cow and Cool and Cape."

"He's right" said E; said F, "Whoopee!"
Said G, "'Ip, 'Ip, 'ooray!"
"You're dropping me," roared H to G.
"Don't do it please I pray."

"Out of my way," LL said to K.
"I'll make poor I look ILL."
To stop this stunt J stood in front,
And presto! ILL was JILL.

"U know," said V, "that W
Is twice the age of me.
For as a Roman V is five
I'm half as young as he."

X and Y yawned sleepily,
"Look at the time!" they said.
"Let's all get off to beddy byes."
They did, then "Z-z-z."

It's the chill around me when your bodies are close
It's the silence right by me when you're chattering away
It creeps up on me when the room is busy
It's the lack of text when I'm walking home alone
It's the empty hand when yours are held tight
It causes jealousy I don't want to have
It's the cold side on the bed when I'm sleeping
It's the stare into a full restaurant at night
It makes you feel the odd one out
It's the misplaced eye contact when you give that look
It's the time working when you're just hanging out
It lingers in the background of my mind
But I keep it quiet, only here I confess
to the bitter taste of loneliness

Soft light creeping in
I sip coffee, hot and black
Glimpsing back, I tilt my chair
Blue sky through spruce boughs
Retrospective of your eyes

I wish we could be genuine.
Touch our hearts with our fingers and hold them up to the light.
Paint murals where the shadows once dreamt.

I wish we could be bold again.
Scream with the intensity we did when we were born.
Find what we desire, and pursue at all cost.

I wish I could be broken.
Set fire to this barrier wrapping my limbs and chisel into the bone.
Mine what I know lies deep within.

I wish we could be genuine.
Flush our faces with insecurities and hold more than each other's skin.
Let our tears and our laughter mean what they meant.

I can't stand not knowing
when you don't speak and
i am unsure what you are
thinking when you're quiet
when you don't answer my
questions directly you wait
till later and at that point I
do not even remember what
i had asked in the first place
you make this funny face at
things I say so i rephrase and
stutter because i assume that
I sound stupid or naive or any
other kind of adolescent feeling
then i have this instant urge
to spill all these thoughts at
once let the floodgates break
and dump all my psychological
waste on you but i have to
remember that that is what
drove everyone away in the
first place so instead...


So instead, I remain silent.
I watch your fingers and watch the movie.
With all these thoughts rampaging through my mind in a single sentence.
Whichever relationship made me afraid of talking, I'll never know.