how lucky i am
to have loved
and been loved by
you.

(luck
has never been
on our side.)

i tell you, yes. i know.
alexandria burned
brighter than my soul.

you are 17 and still breathing.

you know there are people who have galaxies in their hearts, stars in their hair, and moons in their eyes. you're not one of them. you're not one of them and that's okay.

you? you know where the true secrets lie.

they do not reside in universes humans will never know, in stars light-years away. no, true secrets can be found only in what we think we know. we have never seen many of the stars. we have all seen birds' nests and clouds in an otherwise clear sky. we have all seen someone cry and someone laugh and someone breathe.

we have all seen two people look at each other like the person in front of them is the only thing in the universe. we have movies and books and songs and stories all about love. but we have never known it. we have never understood it.

you tell me i don't know what the secret is? i tell you, of course i don't. you don't either. that's why it's a secret. that's why it will never be solved.

you are oil on asphalt.
when it rains,
you glow.

i can't breathe.
my lungs are filled with
your words,
your hands,
your skin.

i'm drowning.
i'm suffocating.
but with every breath
i don't take,
i feel.

(you bring me alive.
it's funny 'cause
you're killing me.)

we were born for greatness.

let us ride this out,
take this town for ourselves.
let us chain smoke on the rooftops
and drink in the alleys.

let us shout the iliad
at the top of our lungs
to those who will not listen
and those who will not care.

let us travel the globe
in the name of life.
let us dance in korea, brazil, italy,
and return better than before.

let us learn of language,
of the universe inside us,
of people long dead
and of people still living.

we were born for greatness.
let us be great.