when i was younger i was afraid of the dark
but now, i frequently find myself stuck in it
when i was younger i could turn on the lights
but now, my lightbulbs just seem to burn out
when i was younger i could run to mother
but now, i am too old to hold
when i was younger i used to be afraid
but the dark taught me that it was time
to realize that i had to grow up

and being afraid of the dark
was the only thing keeping me young.

A house painted in white, the colour of peace
Autumn covers its frontyard in leaves
The masses gather and scream
A crackling voice betrays seething beliefs.

It's a lie waiting to be sold to the highest bidder
Honey, everything will get better if we add some glitter
Warning signs covered with election posters
A popularity contest, let's introduce the imposters.

I'm a special kind of candidate
For decades, I've endured all your hate
And those you despise, I know them all by name
But will they ever listen to what I'm saying?

I'm a self-made man just taking care of business
And since I've made it, every day is Christmas
Push their bodies off the pier, this is just a modern witch test
And if the weights make them drown, at least they're gonna ***** less.

This car without breaks is gaining traction
Let's ask the Romans how to stop a chain reaction
Both sides scream
People to the ballots, cast your vote for our very last bastion.
A waste of paper, an American election.

Life is a complex puzzle
That is full of lost pieces.
Every day you try to look
Your number of them increases.

You don't need a picture
To see where to put them.
That's like putting leaves
Back on a broken stem.

whose fault is it
that I'm sad and alone
is it because you didn't want me
or because i thought you would

my hopes were up
my judgement was clouded
i knew it wouldn't happen
but i went and i tried it

In the end, all that's left is me
me and my heart
me and myself
me and myself and I

maybe this is fine
maybe this is all i need
me myself and i
will do just fine

i love her tender,
i hold her tinder
i told her as her
cylinder smoldered
keep the cinder.

© Matthew Harlovic

I. Your touch is like bones breaking; unforgettable, and breathtaking.
   I know that normally people don't associate love with broken bones
  but even when you cause me pain, I am still so effortlessly in love.

II. On the day that you made me yours,
     you rekindled a fire in me that I thought
    had long since died.

III. And in those eyes that resemble speckled emeralds,
      I see a future brighter than I could have made for myself.
     The feeling is treacherous, to love someone more than yourself.

IV. The thought of you lingers in my bone marrow,
      and it doesn't leave, not even in sleep,  
      you live within my bloodstream.

V. You ignite a fire inside me,
     hotter than I knew was possible in relative existence,
    and every day I burn for you, slow and consistent.

VI. Sometimes I wish you would strip me down
      and love me like a limited resource,
      like I'm a priceless medal, or gem of iridescent hue.

VII. You're the type of guy that gets me to put my phone down
        and that's an accomplishment in itself.
        you're more interesting than the internet, and that's romanticism.

VIII. Your kiss is like electricity, but instead of electrocution,
         you send shivers down my spine,
        and put the sparkle in my eyes.

IX. They say that home is where the heart is,
      and before I met you, I'd never been home before,
      you are my home.

X. I've run out of words to tell you how much I love you
    so now my next mission is to transcribe a new language,
    to do just that.

"Do you ever feel like you're about to die?"
"Like a car crash?" she asks.
But that's not what I mean at all.

What I mean, is when you're so in love with someone who might hate you.
You never get to see them,
but when you do it's with a bunch of other people
whose only interest is to make noise.
And so you think about Someone,
never talking to or about him,
which makes you think that love is a figment of your imagination
or a word you don't understand.
I go back and forth between
"everything is science" and "everything is emotion."
So sometimes, when the love hurts especially bad,
I think it has to be the kind of emotion that can't be explained with science.
In which case, I'm probably mentally ill.
What part of me is holding the love?
It's not my actual heart.
Not my brain.
Not my hands.
That must mean the only part of me that isn't scientific is that unearthly thing that contains love for Someone.
This thing makes me cry real human tears
and when I hit the wall with my closed fist that is not holding love but empty air,
it produces physical pain.
But there is something else this thing holds:
the feeling that I'm about to die.

"Yeah, like a car crash," I nod in agreement.