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Em Jan 2016
Do not waste your looks on a man's wandering eye.
He probably already has a woman to look at.
Em Jan 2016
When I was younger,
my mother would sing
you are my sunshine,
and I knew she loved me.

When I was older,
my pap whistled to my gram
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day,
and I knew he loved her.

Now I'm grown,
and I tell you every morning
I'm a ray of sunshine,
hoping that maybe you'll love me, too.
{there are infinite ways to love someone}
Em Jan 2016
Why?
She tells me I'm wrong.
He tells me nothing.
You
care...

Why?
She criticizes my work.
He criticizes my leadership.
You
praise me...

Why?
She apologizes for being jealous.
He apologizes for doubting me.
You
smile and call me crazy...

Why?*
She remains victorious.
He remains wrapped around her demands.
But You
are all that matters...
To the one who keeps me smiling on my most miserable days.
Em Jan 2016
i want You to give back what You took,
but You need it more.

You keep it in the top drawer,
right side of Your desk.
And i'm sure some of it is in a folder You gave me,
wedged in the filing cabinet between calculations and words i don't remember saying.

But you listen,
so You know more than i should have ever poured out.
my mouth is a stream
and You continue to row towards the falls.

You put your feet up and sing
a change is gonna come,
and i'm standing in front of You.
But Your eyes are *shut.
Em Jan 2016
A melting snowflake
hopelessly enamored by a summer rain -
a blind shot that I’m in love.
But what if I’m playing Russian roulette without a bullet?

My eyes have made enough lunch dates with the ground for marriage.
My hands have caressed a pen
trying to capture the aesthetic of her name on a blank page
because releasing “hello” is too much of a struggle against my tongue’s heart.

I live my life through passing fogs
cleared only by hearing “beautiful”
tumble off her pink, cracked lips.
I’m only beautiful when she needs me.

Her rejection fades in disparaging comparison
to her absence of words.
No is an answer.
Silence is Anxiety’s lover.

And coffee has never been my cup of tea,
but if she were willing to invite me,
I would drink a ***
to listen to her talk about Shakespeare as if they lived in the same time.

I want nothing more than to trace the soft wrinkles on the backs of her hands
the way my finger yearns to chase raindrops across a splintered windshield.
My mind is a vagabond that wanders through memories I have never experienced
and wonders if she would open her umbrella to me when the clouds weep.

She is everybody’s normal, but
she is my perfection.
to an Old Love
Em Jan 2016
Wet paper towels,
And broken candy canes.
I'm cleaning again.

You asked me if I was okay,
And I continued to throw scraps of paper in the trash.
I'm cleaning again.

Ten minutes ago your eyes danced with mine,
And now I'm wiping away the marker stains.
I'm cleaning again.

I toss my feelings down
But no amount of scrubbing can rub them away.
I'm cleaning again.

You spent the day with me,
And I'm cleaning again.
to the man who makes me madly in love & simply angry
Em Jan 2016
I lay my feelings down like a tablecloth;
it sits between our still bodies,
and his fingers grasp at the edges -
twisting, twirling, and innocently tearing bits away.

And yes, he acts like a child,
but he is older, and wiser, and blissfully
unattractive to my age’s everyday gaze -
I am undoubtedly blinded.

He clears his throat to speak,
but he remains silent
while I remain in a whirlwind daydream,
worrying too often about reading between his unspoken lines.

His eyes, a stormy blue haze,
but all I see is the sun;
the entirety of my vision  in awe,
enchanted by a rainbow.

He smiles,
only half of his top teeth showing,
with warmth that shades my cheeks
and beckons me to mirror his dimpled features.

The overflowing effort
he puts into making me laugh
makes me realize how easy it is
to fall for him.

And there’s something captivating
about the way he giggles
when he steals popcorn,
the way his hand softly brushes my skin when he places a sticky note on my forehead.

The freckles on his arms,
like raindrops on the sidewalk
outside my window;
the flowers in my garden grow with their nourishment.

And for every imperfect label society slaps on his untucked shirt,
I find another reason to love him.
-i wish i had a better title for my infatuation-

— The End —