I came in third place in a race.
The winner of the race shook my hand,
congratulated me,
then reminded me that I lost.

I was happy for him, of course.
He ran fast. Good for him.
But he needn't push his gold in my face.

My bronze contented me plenty;
now it feels worthless and *****.
I feel dumb for thinking third place
was worth acknowledging.

I don't run, there was no race.
This is just a stupid analogy
about a stupid kid who made me sad
because he did better.

This is the most blunt poem/love letter/apology I will ever write you.

I love you.

The way you smell,
the sound of your laughter,
your god awful handwriting.

I sleep with my phone by my ears in case you decide
you aren't tired and would like to talk.

I'm not sure this even qualifies as poetry.

I'm sorry I ****** up.
You know I'm better, I know I'm better.
I know we're better.

I'm too nervous to write your name and I love you
in the same poem/love letter/apology.
I'm sorry, I'm not there yet.

Maybe someday.

you've always reminded me of alcohol;
the way you are sweet,
yet you still make the cuts in my mouth burn.

you are the smell of cigarette smoke,
to a rebel teen with asthma.

I haven't written you a poem in a while.

your indecision gives me indigestion.

I don't need you, I want you.
I want your skin close to mine
and your lips interlocked with mine.

yes, these are all things you need to hear.

I am scared of the "l word"
but we both know that's what this is.

I'm too scared of redundancy
to write your name.

maybe I need you.

O, dear friends, it is time to hide.

Time to hide the alcohol, for she is ready to drown her sorrows with every drop.

Time to hide the razors, for she wants desparately to cry from her veins.

Time to hide her father's gun, for she craves revenge.

Time to hide her ex-lover, for the whole situation has made her tense and unpleasant.

Time to hide her ex-lover's new mate, in case we don't hide her father's gun well enough.

And finally, dear friends, it is time for us to hide. And wait.

My friend, put down your weapon.
It is out of your control, she isn't here anymore.
She moved on after you left, don't you see?
There is no need to wage war on yourself.

Please put down the gun.
Do not blame her for moving on, you left.
It is not the fault of the one she left with-
in fact, this has nothing to do with her.

No, this has to do with you, and you alone.
Do not write wish lists wishing suffering to anyone,
it does no one any good whatsoever.

Take care of yourself, put down the knife.
You are a victim of circumstance,
do not become the criminal.

We are your neighbors, we are your friends.
We hide in the cracks in your hetero-normative society.
We do not need your representation,
we do not crave your voice.
Thank you, we have our own.

Ours is a voice you simply won't listen to,
but we can fight our own battles.
We live in the underground subculture you pushed us into,
and now we're ready to resurface.

We're coming up fast and we're coming up strong,
and no, we won't be quiet about it.
We won't conform to fit into the hetero-normative
graves you've already dug for us.

Don't ask who the "man" is in the relationship.
We're complex and complicated, and no, we won't give that up
just so you can have a "gay best friend."

Your stereotypes can't hurt us anymore.
At the end of our "limp wrists" are clenched fists,
and baby, we're aiming to make your nose bleed.

Don't try to stand for us, stand with us.
Raise your voices with ours, do not
rise above us to save us.

We don't need your salvation and
we don't need your approval.
If you're trying to speak for us,
you can keep your "same love" to yourself.

You can call us the new wave beat generation,
due to the fact that we're sick of being beaten down by your *******.
We'll beat the institutionalized hatred you've been beating us with.

Warning: you may experience some slight discomfort.
After a while, they tell you that it's expected.
At least, that's what they tell us.

They tell us that it's easier to hide who you are and
who you love than to express that love.
And when we do express that love
they tell us we should've just kept
it in the closet where it came from.

Either that or we're supposed to allow you to
make our love so small that it could fit in your palm of your hand.
Go on, say, "*** a gay couple, they're like, SOOO cute!" We dare you.

We've got Kerouac on the backs of our hands
and generations of pain building from the backs of our hearts.
Don't push us to the back of your mind,
because we'll build until you burst.

Just like we're bursting with rage;
an age old pain caused by your ignorance.
But we're ready to end it, end the violence we inflict on ourselves
because our sexuality makes you uncomfortable.

And we can't have that, now can we.
You? Uncomfortable?
Please, allow us to sacrifice our human dignity,
so you don't have to be uncomfortable.
Because, let us tell you, it is so comfortable to not have equal opportunities as you!

Yes, we still love you.
We are your friends, we are your neighbors.
We still call our mothers to complain about our jobs.
But this **** has got to stop.

And now we leave the choice to you:
either help us or get the hell out of our way,
because we're burning this system to the ground,
whether you like it or not.

She always has the rights words, tucked behind her ear.
Her ballerina feet dance on broken glass.
She'll be gone soon.

She flies with clipped wings.
Falling, scraping every inch of the sky,
until we scrape her off the pavement.

In the center of the lake sits the mermaid,
running bleeding fingers through tangled masses of hair.
Tears streak her hazy face like hazel clouds streak the sky.

She does not understand the consequences
of unrequited love.
Hers are not the bloodied feet.

It is the ballerina's turn to go.
She bows, gracefully, then jumps out the window.
The crowd falls silent; she is bleeding on the floor.

The mermaid's screams fill the air.
Her cries flood the ears of passersby
as water floods her lungs.

She is swimming to shore
to reunite with the ballerina.
The toxicity of unrequited love catches up with her.

The mermaid pulls herself out of the water
and onto the pavement.
This is her swan song.