This parachute is crushing my ribs so that
my knees buckle when I land.

I feel sick.
I ***** up post-its and
menthol cigarettes
and pages of a movie script.

Inside jokes drip off my chin
when my eyes
roll back inside my head.

There's too much sweat
on my upper lip out,
out without warning doubled over
come collaborated lyrics that ****
sticking to quotes from books that speak to us.

I put a message in a full bottle of
gingerbread schnapps
so you won't know what it says
when you get drunk
and this parachute won't come off.

On sticky wednesday nights I entertain mannequin friends
on a porch with no railing.

Fake rain leaves trees I sip iced tea to the sound of imaginary fighting.  

Breathing comes in heavy gulps
between no conversation.

The next door neighbors leave their blinds half shut
and their tv on
so ghosts dance on the lawn.

This elevator makes me wonder:
Could we be best friends forever?
Cords breaking overhead
knees shaking, breath breathing
Could we be best friends?

The time it takes for a train to derail
is the same amount of time to kiss a stranger
on the mouth.

Toast our ten second anniversary when the plane hits water.

Forever started when this bank robber put a barrel to my temple
and guided me down to you.

Spend the rest of your life holding my hand.

I need someone to see me,
even if it isn't you.
I swallow
and hiccup heartbeats.
This is stuff that I've always wanted to say
but never did.

You have become a song, a dance,
a phrase.
I miss you,
but only what I remember.

I don't have words, just carousel music.
You have become my memory of you
and everything you've ever wanted
wants you, too

I like the way you say my name.
When you call it, I listen.
You say my name like
you know what you're talking about.

My name,
it feels safe in your mouth.
It was born and raised there.
It's whole family is there and
it had block parties
with all seventeen cousins there.

My name spent bathing suit summers
running through sprinklers
just behind your teeth.

It's comfortable there.
I know my name always has a bed
under your tongue.

Even if you couldn't
say my name ever again,
I know I'd still like the way you say my name.

I like the way you say my name.

Sure, I’ve been in love.

I fall in love with people who buy the same drink
and people who sit three seats in front of me
and maybe
even the people who walk next to me for a while.

I fall in love with the boy on the bench outside English
and the boy  who just passed on his bike.

I fall in love with backs of heads
and shoes attached to legs
I’m in love with
voices two flights down and the barking laugh
walking past.

And I’m probably  in love with you
or have been before.
It might have happened twice
and you might have never met me.

Another moment and I won’t remember your face.
But, trust me,
I love you.

Maybe one day you’ll catch my eyes
and fall in love, too.
And then we can spend our entire lives
in love.

And in the mornings
the sun can cascade
onto our blankets
to pry us from our perfect sleep.

It’s always super you
saving every girl
held up at every jewelry store
or thrown off any bridge.
You and your windblown hair
and those beautifully deceiving eyes,
looking down and sparkling darkly
as you smile a kryptonite smile.

But your arms
so strong
could carry me miles
and never feel the heavy that lives in my chest.

Capes do get stuck in jet engines.