I've always bruised easily
I wear my heart on my sleeve
If you were to jab it, you'd find out it bleeds
give me a moment, give me some space,
I need time, a few minutes to waste
my every last nerve has spilled on the tile
I've got to pick them up, please, it'll take a while

Here is my story
of meeting you, a glory.

The day we first met
a day I shall regret
don't read that wrong
for you I truly long
I regret not taking a chance
being so scared at first glance

When my eyes rested upon you
I truly did not have a clue
I was a lost soul, living day by day
I would let every day pass away
there was nothing for me here in life
I truly could have just picked up knife.

We met down the beach
but my heart was still out of reach
I looked in your eyes, Click
it was like I no longer feel sick
I wasn't sick though, I did not understand
but for once in my life I felt grand.

Even with this great feeling
The lock on my heart is still rusted
but I could feel the lock peeling
it still could not be busted
we floated and talked
once you left this lock exploded

Now I became annoyed
my heart was ready to be deployed
"Why", I kept asking myself this
Had no confidence, and now you I miss.
who was this Angel who opened me
I knew your name, you were my key.

I was lost in thought
My heart and head now fought
For days I hated
I laid and waited.
But found nothing I did
so instead deep down I hid

Now it had been awhile
I kept wondering if it was some kind of trial
all I could think was maybe I failed
once again falling deep I felt derailed
but by chance
I see you advance

my heart races, pounding
my head started clouding
This time I'll say something
but out comes absolutely nothing
only some small talk
and on you walk

I could see you were interested
but my lips just would not spread
the next day you were gone
I walk I to work that morn, torn
a colleague tells me about an envelope
my heart rose, up comes my hope.

A long beautiful letter
now I feel a whole lot better
as my heart flies, we talk and talk
now my dreams you stalk.
the woman of my dreams you are
the gorgeous shining star

you have opened my heart
and that is just the start
you have opened my soul
and made me feel whole

thank you with all my heart and soul
I miss you and love you, my heart you stole

she sat like old smoke on the back of an elephant in the room.
like a dead wreath, breathing a pure circle
of hell. she broke a tambourine over the head
of a homeless man made of diamonds.
she broke his hardness with a constant sigh of sorrows
and chose to do violence upon her last smile
clutching the bitter rings in a porcelain
tub. brassy lion's paw
resting too heavy now on a cracked linoleum
floor.

with her eyes
open.

I'll show you my scars I've been hiding for so long

I'll tell you of all my pain and how it stung

I'll bleed out to you and you can watch me cry

Because eternally I watch myself die

I'm afraid though of all the judging you will do

Because I can never no if ones feelings are TRUE

I'm tired and weak gazing at the stars

As I unconsciously rub my scars

I tread softly upon your legacy
angel of mine with broken wings,
traces left behind in soft whispers
the best of times gone awry,
when you whirl through my head
soaring on kaleidoscopic tranquility
wrapped in lavender zephyr sighs
dancing on clouds of ethereal hope
carefree and peaceful without worry
floating above lapis forbidden skies
like a effulgent butterfly haunting me
   in the darkly mindless hours of night
when the haze clears my conscious etchings
       you flutter amidst my words
exhaling ephemeral moments of poetry
swirls of splendiferous opulence
dreams beyond my comprehension,
I escape to heavenly dimensions
'drips of moonlight washing over me'
    lingering in this stately haven of intention

world wonders
new starts
billion people
pound hearts

Back then I tried to clean out my heart like it was a closet I’d been filling with bad ideas and painful regrets.
But the memories of us were too heavy to throw away.
So I just pushed them all aside.
And every time I looked to my heart for guidance all I could hear was your name in its beat.
So I couldn’t even breathe without you.
And maybe we fell apart back then so we had a chance to rebuild our foundations.
And now I’ll never let them crack.
It’s as though you climbed my heart like a mountain and left a flag as a reminder of what I’d be missing when you were gone.
And I missed you.
You left a draft in my ribcage when you stole my heart and I’m only just getting used to the warmth of its return.
Every day there was a flashback of what we used to be.
Every night there was a dream of what I wanted us to be.
Now I wake up in the morning and I see what we’ve become.
We fell apart so we could fall back together.
And I did fall.
My love for you is deeper than the Mariana Trench.
And even if you could swim that deep into my love for you, you’d never understand just how much.
Back then I didn’t believe in fate.
But now you make me believe in anything.  
In everything.

I spoke in vain
To a rather coy daffodil
Commenting such,
"Excuse me for saying,"
    "But you look lovely today."
And I, as if expecting response,
     Allowed silence;
(Reciprocated by the daffodil)
"Yes," I said, "Save your words."

I Hope You’re Happy & I Hope It Hurts
RikkiLynn Shields

A tear raced down my face
as I sifted through the cedar drawer filled to the brim
with remnants of you.
This drawer, your drawer, held your licorice black hat
and an empty bottle of your cologne that happened to smell nothing like you anymore.

In the upside down, you loved me back.
And when I saw you again in my sleep last night,
after an Aeschylus book and a wide glass of Jack,
there was a letter in my hand that I tried to read
just before I woke.
Your name smiled at me from the crumpled envelope.

Addressed to the past, unsent and unseen,
the envelope carried memories of my old self and a ratty hair tie
you claimed to remind you of me.
I peered at the polaroid picture you captured,
the one with the lights strung just high enough to be out of reach.
You were 23 and believed in God and I was 19
and didn’t believe in anything but you and me.

I felt like a forest lacking trees,
a room without a view,
and a lake you refused to swim in because the water couldn’t slightly compare
to your favorite shade of midnight blue.
I am where the rain falls.
I am the one who waters her plants until they drowned,
and that was the only way I knew how to love.

I peeled my eyes off of the letter,
lifted my head, and proudly declared to my room that
America was a nation founded by men
because it has a hard time apologizing.
I often describe you as the stillest of revolutions,
or the type of man who can never find a horse high enough to ride.
You could fall fifty stories down and barley bruise your ego,
even if your tried.

When you pulled the ocean over yourself to stay warm,
you unintentionally taught me to never love a man
more than he loves you.
I learned that if you love him more
not to let him know you do.
Learn to let him feel the love in a series of waves, not oceans,
so he can’t sink your ship if that’s all there’s left to do.

How long does sitting at a stop light feel when you’re late?
Does it feel even longer when you’re on your way to say goodbye?
How cliché that we only ever kissed in my car.
You’re always either coming or leaving
but you’re never, ever staying.

A pretty mess of playful thoughts, colliding with my mind.
Someone, anyone, outline me a map to guide me back
to all the things I thought I lost
after leaving you behind.

Some things don’t always happen as gracefully as I had hoped,
and I have to learn not to feel the need to apologize for the way I grow.

This isn’t another tacky love poem, but it could have been.
Things never feel the way they are supposed to, do they?
I guess the sunset doesn’t looks as good when you try to take it home.