For Paige:
I’ve wanted to ask you,
For so long now.
I just wasn’t sure,
Exactly how.
So I thought I’d give it a try.
This has been on my mind,
And I tried and I tried
To come up with ideas
But none were really mine.
Until I thought of this poem,
Something that I could create,
I and I alone.
So please consider it,
It would really mean a lot,
If you went with me to prom.

I didn't recognize him until I walked by and looked back;
Standing straight up
he towers over me
by a head or more.
his voice was less hoarse than i'd ever heard it
and he had a small smile under his mustache
as he said my name
and asked
"how's it goin?"
I smiled back
"pretty good, you?"
our conversation didn't last
half as long as it should have
and i felt rude
breaking away and walking off,
waving at his daughter and son-law
as they sped by me
and around him
honking and laughing
as they flipped me off
so i returned the gesture,
and walked off laughing.
down the road
down the hill
thinking I should have talked longer
I owed it to him;
I've known him six months or so
but I've known his kids for five years
and his family is mine-
he is my father
just as much,
if not more
than my actual father.
and I actually like this man-
I worry about his health
on a daily basis.
but seeing him standing straight up
and hearing him speak in a clear voice
is a comfort,
so i smile as i regret not talking more

The only time I wake up in the morning,
                    when the alarm rings,
                                is when I never woke up,
                                              because I never slept the night before.

Counterintuitive
A kite's skeleton
Only tiny little
Wisps of rice paper
Still latched onto the frame
Abandoned
The only presence
That of a lowly shadow
So lonely
Resting beside a bin
Hoping the little boy
Will come play with it
Again
But wind wears away skin
And the weight of the world
Pulls you towards the core
The little boy,
Is no longer small
He is old and weary
Time has tugged little
Kite strings of his memory
Away from him
His skin folds in
Tiny little wrinkles
And the kite slowly withers
No longer painted with vibrant
Cherry blossom flowers

When I was younger
I realized that if I only liked one girl at a time
only thought about one
I became obsessive and never ended up with her
lately i've realized-
If I think about several girls at once
and tell myself
I'll give the thoughts of the others up
If I ever
end up with any of them-
I don't get obsessive,
I get confused
but confused is not obsessive
confusion limits how extreme I allow my emotions to become
but having any feelings at all
for a girl
is enough for me to fall for her if it ever comes to that point
but tracking multiple lives
and often getting so extremely confused
leaves me unable
to break through my shyness
and anxiety
to take a chance with any of them.
Just because I write about other girls
don't assume i'm not thinking about you
you're here
I just find it impossible to write about people who may read
what i've written about them.
I write about you
in my head
but rarely write any of it down
sometimes I hope you do the same

right now-
I hope you read your name out of this
and aren't offended

The title comes back to me
and suddenly
at 1:38 in the morning
I have the urge to hear that old song
that she still tells me after listening to
(leaving a ;) that always confuses me)
since that was our song,
or rather,
my song when I could think of nothing but her
my song for two and a half years
my song for every second she avoided me

and then everything got better
and somehow, in some conversation
I mentioned this song
and it became ours,
or rather
hers for every broken heart
hers for every second spent alone
hers for every confused emotion that she harbored

and I helped sail away.

and at the end of every verse of this song
i smile and cringe simultaneously
as her name is said
and I wonder how she really feels
wonder if she's spent as many long nights as me;
lying awake
hoping somebody would come along
somebody perfect, who cares more than anyone ever has

wonder if she's ever thought my name
in a moment like that
wonder if she's ever thought my name
ever

I need to stop wondering
and ask