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there once was a young girl with green eyes
who wore her soft blond hair
in braided pigtails

at the age of seven,
she watched her older sister
stand in front of the mirror before school
and pinch her stomach with a disgusted face
          neither of them ate breakfast that morning

at the age of nine,
she watched her older brother
make fun of a girl with glasses
for reading on the bus
          she went home and hid all her books in the attic

at the age of twelve,
she watched the older girls at school
with straight hair and short skirts
put makeup on in the bathroom
and discuss how boys would only like you
if you looked perfect, like them
          the next day she arrived with red lips, short shorts, and no braided pigtails

at the age of fourteen,
she watched her father hit her mother for the first time
her mother cried when she saw her standing in the doorway
and told her daddy didn't mean it
          the next year, she told herself that her boyfriend didn't mean it, either

at the age of sixteen,
she was paper thin and empty
with straight blond hair, red lips,
purple flesh, and lifeless green eyes
          while staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror,
          she thought to herself "at least i'm normal."
 May 2013 David Messmer
Morgan
I'm tired of giving a **** while the world is turning without me & I'm sick of falling in love with all of the things I hate the most. I'm tired of trying to prove myself in between every line & I'm sick of crying beneath the constellations. I wanna dance with the storm instead of running against it & I wanna care about myself more than I care about you. I wanna be so happy that I'm sad & I wanna laugh because it's all so funny instead of laughing at the irony of my own misery. I wanna smile because I can and not because I have to. I just wanna say "I'm gonna make it out alive today" & have faith in every pause & believe in every word as I watch your eyes fill with the light of approval... the light that's never shone over me... I wanna be okay. I just wanna be okay.
 May 2013 David Messmer
Maya
Tell me where your dreams roam
when you close your eyes.
Do they bring you home?
Do you dream of cuddling with me
while my eyes close sleepily?
Because I dream of laying sober with you
sharing whispered secrets until two.
In my best dreams, with my eyes closed,
your arms surround me, our bodies touch from head to toe.
And soon, with my eyes open,
we can do that, or so I'm hoping.
Baby, can you tell me what you dream of?
Even if it's not of me, I hope it makes you smile love.
I hope we can connect our sleeping dreams and mentalities,
from Wisconsin to California some time in reality.
I wake up in the morning
To your pretty amber eyes,
Caress your lovely face
While my heartbeat's on the rise.

You catch me off guard
Everytime you lean in and kiss me,
Because how could I, a guy like me,
And a lovely girl like you come to be?

When you turn around
To look or catch my attention,
Baby, it's always yours.
You'll always have my affection.
Those beautiful, empty eyes.
They pierce the smoky haze,
staring into me.
Through me.
They see me
but with the intensity and knowing of a
blind man.
That anger, rage, and challenge in the eyes of my
beloved.
You are he, but he is not you.
My love,
you dismiss the world,
yet you cannot.
It has left its mark upon you.
A cruel paradox.
Seen.
Discovered.
Beauty captured
but in a moment gone.
Come to me.  
Let my hand upon your face
restore the warmth into those
cold, foreign eyes.
Who is this spirit that embodies you,
who imprisons my heart?
Cast it away.
Look upon me, beloved.
Let me find favor in your eyes.
There is no rage there.
You challenge me
to explore the depths of your love
and nothing more.
It is you who sees me.

— The End —