I'm no fortune teller
I can't tell prophecies from tarot cards
Or your eventual fate from your birthday

But I'm smart enough to know
You didn't consider me
A part of your future

I'm not a good dancer
Sure, I can write a waltz
I can record the movements in a million ways

The guy,
In a fancy tuxedo
Smile wide as ever on his face

The girl,
In a strapless dress
Maybe it's white

The guy,
With his one hand
On her delicate waist,
The other
Holding her hand,
Keeping her anchored and safe

The girl,
With her one hand
On his strong shoulder,
The other
Holding his hand,
Relying on him to lead

The guy,
Feet moving in time

The girl,
Feet moving time

The guy,
Raising his arm
For a graceful spin

The girl,
Allowing herself
To be turned and rotated

The guy,
Passion in his eyes
An ever-growing love

The girl,
Kindness in her eyes
An ever-growing devotion

The guy,
Bringing her down
For a spectacular dip

The girl,
Scared to death
He's going to drop her
But knowing all the same
He won't let her fall

The guy,
Slowly lowering his lips

The girl,
Smiling and kissing him

They were finally happy

I can't dance
I know every move,
Every feeling
But, when I get on that floor,
I just get clumsy

It's too bad, really
Because I would have liked
For that to be you and I
Someday

I don't want to hurt you
I never did
You may have broken my heart,
Smashed it to smithereens,
Thrown my delicate, glass heart
Against the cold, hard, concrete floor
But that doesn't make me
Want to break yours
Not at all
I slowly placed it
On a fluffy, goose-down pillow
Just waiting for the right girl
To come along and pick it up
I hope she carries it well
I hope you won't see me
Kneeling on the floor,
Hands bloodied,
Trying to pick up the broken shards
Of my glass heart

Clutching the cool, sharp blade
Hovering above my arm
I'm scared
Dipping the tip, slowly
Slicing my delicate skin
Dragging it across my arm
Making little tic marks
One for every wrong I've ever done
Broke his heart
Check
Betrayed my friend
Check
Wincing at the immediate pain of
Flowing plasma,
Dripping onto the floor
Quenching the wound
I want to just let it go
Let it flow
Out of me
Steadily dripping,
Always dripping

Call me what you want
Say I'm a *****, I'm worthless
You won't break my skin

when i gazed upon
your handsome profile, i was
blown by the beauty

How fitting, it must be
That Athena,
Goddess of Wisdom,
Was borne straight out
Of her father's head!
Conceived by mere thoughts
Conceived by the
Notion of thinking wisely
I am agape,
I am aghast
How could such a meathead
Like Zeus
Create such an intelligent goddess?
And the question that has
Plagued me for many years.....
Does she have a belly button?

How sweet it is
That we humans love to hold hands
Would it be my choice
To hold on to a lifeless
Sweaty appendage?
Not really.
At least,
Not until I held your hand
It was not lifeless
It was a living, breathing being
With a mind of its own
Trickling its way up my side
Caressing my face
And slapping me,
Hard
So hard,
It left a print for me
To remember you by
So I guess your brain
Was behind the hand
After all

today's my birthday,
but i don't want presents
today's my birthday,
but i don't want wishes
today's my birthday,
but i don't want to be older
today's my birthday,
but i don't want a party
today's my birthday,
but i already have everything i want

they told me that my mom loved birthdays
they told me she'd stay up all night
baking cakes and cookies and pies
they told me she planned parties months in advance
they told me she loved to sing happy birthday
and that she had perfect pitch too

they told me she made me her
famous almond dream cake
for my first birthday
smothered in coconut frosting
with one little palm tree
precariously placed on top

they told me that she
learned to knit
just for me
to make me a soft blanket
adorned with the words,
my little angel, cara

today's my birthday,
but i don't want it to be

today's my birthday,
but i don't want to remember my mother

blood
lots of it
shooting down
from the sky
the blood
of brothers
of neighbors
of two sides
pitted against
one another
so much blood
i think i just
might drown
in all of the
sticky
warm
crimson
fluid
gushing from
every orifice
mixing
in a whirl
of DNA
who knows why
maybe it was because
they were
so much closer
it could have been
new technology
or old medicine
but what i do know is
that those years
caused more than
just bloodshed
they ripped
our land
to shreds
and from the
blood-soaked soil
flowers bloomed
and everything was
normal again
except for the fact
that each and every
flower
grew to be
a heavy blood-red
to remind us
of the people
we ravaged
so i guess
it really wasn't
okay
after all

there is no better sound
to my waiting ears
than the sweet caress
of an
i love you
sure, craft your
exquisite love poems
romance me with
grand flourishes
of word choice
and rhyme scheme
write me a sonnet,
if you'd like
but nothing is as
sweet
caring
and true
as a simple
i love you

Oh, you poor little z,
you always cry, "no one uses me!"
Oh you poor little thing,
they only use you in zebra or zing!

In hangman, you are never a letter,
the smartest kids know that "a" is much better.
In word searches you are always ignored,
we know they wrote you in when they were bored.

Only in Scrabble are you the king
10 points to a player is what you'll bring!
So, don't despair, my little z,
You're always worth 10 points to me.

you call yourself a friend
but you've got a collection of knives
you contemplate each day
hmm which should i use this time?
how about the steal her boyfriend blade,
thats quite a lethal one
or maybe i'll use the
gossip about her *** life knife
that always seems to shut her up
ooh i know the one
its perfect, really,
i call it the
act like everything's fine machete
one stab
and its all it takes
for her whole foundation
to crumble to the ground

ghosts
no, they're not white
or like anything
you think they are
and yet,
you see them all the time
in restaurants
on buses
walking down the street
shells of people
alive
but not really
moving in circles
day after day
those vacant stares
slack jaws
unshaven faces
mismatched socks
still don't think you know a ghost?
then you very well may be one.