Train stops.
Coffee shops.
Feet shuffle across the cobbled stones.
Flurries of sparkling dew are falling,
undecided if they're snow or rain.
It's getting cold out here,
winter nipping at our toes and ears;
pulling jackets closer,
wishing jackets were our lovers.

And there, in the warmth of a corner shop,
a nymph, perhaps, or just a girl.
And when she looks up, my god,
it's like the sun has birthed a world
of stars and planets, a universe,
held inside a sea of traversed
by love and longing
and patient waiting,
for a man exactly like you.

And as you reach for that thing you need,
what was it that you came here for?
Those fingers brush your hand,
and your head rushes in your heart,
and those eyes capture your smile,
and as you journey back to home,
the cobbled streets are so much warmer
as you pull your jacket closer
and she pulls you closer too.

(two girls are apart and they are doing the best they can)

he tries to run away but he is losing everything
and hey says, he says he doesn't mind but
his eyes can't lie and they are screaming

h e l p  m e

she builds a box from the ground up and they talk about it
for weeks because oh my
how pretty
what beauty

the door disappears when she locks herself in
and only when they notice
there are no windows
do they ask

was it lovely at all
if it had no light

the girl
who is finding herself in
alcohol and cigarettes

the girl
who got lost finding herself in
this society

the girl
who is finding herself in
places

the girl
who is finding herself in
these writings

little did she not know
she could find herself
deep inside her all along.

a loverboy that didn’t last
an agreement
maybe it wasn’t supposed to

i can add him to the list
i’ve got going in my head

‘ones who left’

never wrote it down because
i think it might change

a loverboy who held my head
the 30th time he found me
spinning in circles
chasing neon with whiskey

held it until the morning after
brought me water in a mug
‘you’re a cool girl, can i see you tonight’
and then never called

i can write about him
until i find someone new

loverboy who i wasn’t ready to lose
just yet

he asked ‘yet’?
and i corrected
‘ever’

loverboy who left me little crumbs
to eat
after he took me home for dinner

he says he’s ‘not in the right place
for loving a girl like you’
and i roll my eyes, toss my socks into the corner
‘yet?’ i ask

‘ever’

I have cried these eyes empty,
Time and time again, I know
The hurt.
Cold caves on my face, Stone
Wells are my expression.
Wells never deep enough to trap the small girl,
But always hollow enough to have her screams remain
And echo

Throw your coins in and make a wish
Before the water washes out.

coffee tastes better in Spain

a simple hello is groundbreaking

comfort can be a warm bed or a “like” of a picture

the cold is different in the UK (you can feel it in your bones)

they will always give you a knife and fork to eat a hamburger

sometimes you need to eat at a Hard Rock in Lisbon to be reminded of home

if you eat the bread, they will charge you 1€

crying alone in a hotel room or at a Chinese restaurant in Italy is perfectly normal

never doubt the power of distance

now you can never say you didn’t try

just because you don’t speak the same language, doesn’t mean “*******” isn’t universal

sometimes sleeping next to someone who peeled your outermost layer off is the most intimate you need to be

“I’ll never see these people ever again”

have pride

ask me now what it is that I want

I have come to loathe all brown bags and black suitcases

vulnerability does not necessarily equal intimacy

remember that you pulled yourself out of the sea

your feet tread castles and cathedrals where thousands walked

art galleries are best enjoyed alone

now you understand when mom and dad don’t answer how agonizing it is

write it down if you want to forget it

acknowledge buried truths

eat paella and shnitzel and pizza and fish and chips and don’t think

go to movies at the tallest cinema

slip a little on the cobblestones

lay for hours on the beach

then

go home
be humble
remember
reminisce
teach
embrace

Glasgow – 1/8/15

She was beautiful girl;
       An angel with a broken wing.
       Wore red high heels and played halo.
       A smile that would light up a room,
       and eyes that begged you to stare.

She lived a long live;
      Made foolish mistakes,
     she revisited them often.
      A broken heart; and most
     of  the pieces; she lost them.