Give me more love or more disdain;
      The torrid, or the frozen zone,
Bring equal ease unto my pain;
      The temperate affords me none;
Either extreme, of love, or hate,
Is sweeter than a calm estate.

Give me a storm; if it be love,
      Like Danae in that golden show’r
I swim in pleasure; if it prove
      Disdain, that torrent will devour
My vulture-hopes; and he’s possess’d
Of heaven, that’s but from hell releas’d.

Then crown my joys, or cure my pain;
Give me more love, or more disdain.

I will be your storyteller
Just stay here with me
We can show each other
Things we never would have believed

I will keep you company
At the end of every day
I will lull you off to sleep
If you let me stay

I will build a house
Made from hearts of oak
I will warm your water up
When you want a soak

I will write you poems
About the moon, the stars, the clouds, the sky
I will stay with you
Until the day I die

Because you're the one who's good to have around
You're the one I'm glad I found
I may not say I love you all the time
But I do,
My special valentine

I swear, goblins must have created you.
Made so pure, honest, stable, delicate.
Like a blanket you can cover what I’m
Ashamed to show, and provide to me an
Inner warmth otherwise unnatural.
You puzzle me yet piece me together.

The hem of your being gently caresses
my skin beneath. I'll be your comforter
and sooth you of all your worries, darling.
Don’t fret, for a new beginning rises.
Secrets whisper to each other, exchanging
in an ear -- a tavern of safekeeping.

Friendly benefits, beneficial friends
I’m glad “we” exists even though you do
remind me of her – wish I could hate her...
She is a mold of who I had become --
Shattered -- but now I can rebuild my world,
like a child playing with his new Legos.

I’d give you the world if I loved you enough.
This is just affection, care-free addiction.
Perhaps in a different place or time.
A bed would be nice, or even a couch,
but for now I’ll make due with this kitchen,
asking to borrow one of your kisses.

I think if I reach a little further I might be able to grasp your last thought.
The last thing that slipped into your mind.
What brought you to the ledge.
Was it that she didn't want you?
Did you stand there with the pills in your hand screaming and crying,
                        L o v e  me!
                                             L o v e me!
She couldn't love you though, there was nothing left in her to love with.
Now she sits in the river giving herself up.
I know what her last thought is.
She's just so tired,
let her be, let her be.
As she cries out to no one
                         L o v e me!
                                              L o v e me!
She floats on down the river
Her last thought is only to love him enough this time.

To W. R. B.

And so, to you, who always were
Perseus, D'Artagnan, Lancelot
To me, I give these weedy rhymes
In memory of earlier times.
Now all those careless days are not.
Of all my heroes, you endure.

Words are such silly things! too rough,
Too smooth, they boil up or congeal,
And neither of us likes emotion --
But I can't measure my devotion!
And you know how I really feel --
And we're together. There, enough . . .

In the back seat of Dad’s red Grand Prix
I thought about death for the first time
and if God forgave kids who didn’t believe in him

Eternity was suddenly terrifying,
even in Heaven, an endless celebration
And in the dark, I would be alone, a streak of light
racing through empty space
with nowhere to go but further away

Mom was the first to see me falling to pieces
as I tried to explain the promise of Heaven was scary
like endless flames, and an eternity of nothing was just the same

As a child I ran from fear and hid in a well lit room
But here, as a crumpled heap on the ground, I couldn’t escape
Mom begged me not to be afraid
with a kiss and a therapist’s receipt
She promised peace and beauty in death
as I tore myself apart on the side of the road