In the middle of the night,
I broke into your chest.
I stole your heart without meaning to-
It was like sleepwalking.

In the morning,
I woke up with your heart in my hands.
I didn't want to keep it,
But it had already spilled its contents on me.

I snuck back to return your heart
But you stood there, looking at me
With an emptiness in your chest,
Love pouring out from the hole.

I tried to put you back together
But the red love on the floor
Had left the tiles slick
And you fell.

In the middle of the night,
I left you alone
With a slippery heart in your hands
That neither you nor I
Could hold onto.

Mature in her youth.
Young in her maturity.
Oh, to be sixteen.

Growing old too fast.
But growing up too slowly.
Today: infinite.

Tip-toeing the line
Leaping 'tween the trapezes.
Balancing it all.

Aged so sweetly, loved
So deeply; she is a bud
Blooming in winter.

She is a princess.
High heels, a little black dress.
Face lit up with hope.

Bid old days so long.
She will dance alone no more.
We all go with her.

We all grow with her.

You swing dance with me, you sidestep my questions, you throw out answers to things I haven't asked yet, you jump to conclusions.

You slow dance with me, you hold me just close enough, you spin me to keep distance, you keep your footing.

You tap with me, you choreograph intricate routines, you make me want to watch you.

You tango with me, you drip passion, you keep me up at night in a sweat.

You Charleston with other girls, you keep me on my toes, you never let them see you fall.

*Now stay still.

My thoughts couldn't fit inside today.
So they flung from my fingertips
And burst from my pale white lips.

And I didn't talk to you today.
Because I felt like you don't understand;
My thoughts run faster than my hands.

I spoke to anyone who would listen today.
And my words fell flat on the ears
Of people who I hadn't talked to in years.

My ex-boyfriend called me today.
He asked me if I ever feel alone,
And I wondered how he could have known.

I handed you a black piece of fabric,
And you joked about it being an old-fashioned proposal.
This would be Medieval times:
I would hand you a piece of my sleeve
As a declaration of my love.
I would be a maiden,
And you would be a knight.
(You would have brought my fabric into battle for good luck.)
You accepted my accidental proposal
And we had a good laugh about it.

You lost the fabric.

*You kept me.

I was a prism,
Catching your light.
Your smile in the dark:
A star in the night.

Your car was a fortress,
A spaceship, a home.
It held all our secrets.
The miles: a poem.

Your hands were waves
Eroding my mess.
The heat that you shared
Saved me (more or less.)

Reverberate in my ears,
Voice like a song.
Shotgun in your Ford:
It's where I belong.

You hold me so close
And squeeze me so tight,
Your smell clings to my shirt
As you drive out of sight.

It's stuck to my shoes,
And my jeans, and my hair.
Your scent's in my pockets,
And swirls in the air.

But when it hits my skin,
Your smell mixes with mine.
It's flowers, and grass,
and memories, and time.

It's a spot on the beach
Where you kissed my face.
It's the smell of your car
From place to place to place.

I blush when I smell it,
The aura of you and me.
The feelings flood my nose.
It's a crush high, and it's free.

For the rest of the day,
I'll be wearing a smile.
The smell of us will linger,
At least for a while.

You are arms:
Holding me on the beach,
Playing your guitar,
Standing just outside my reach,
Dancing at the bar.

You are eyes:
Underneath a Batman face.
Reading a new line.
Just staring into blackened space,
Or staring into mine.

You are lips:
Kissing softly on my neck.
Singing with the band.
Grazing my cheek with a peck.
Warming my cold hand.

You are feet, and you are fingers.
You are a well-worn palm that lingers.
A neck, a head, a back, a nose,
Calves, knuckles, ankles, toes.

You are a heart:
Ticking, slowly, like a clock.
Drumming in your chest.
Thumping, loudly, like a knock.
Loving me the best.

We stood crowded around a TV.
The seconds drummed away.
...10...9...
We made eye contact.
...8...
My heartbeat picked up tempo.
...7...6...
I tried to smooth my hopelessly wrinkled dress.
...5...
Electricity pulsed between us.
...4...
You took me by the waist.
...3...
Our faces inched closer.
...2...
Your hot breath in my ear:
...1...
"I'm sorry."

Toasting, cheering, kissing couples swirled together.
And you were gone.