This is not a poem of heartfelt emotions
Or of declarations of love.
This is a poem of me.

No longer will I be chained
To love's unending torture;
wishing and hoping
for the same devotion
my heart gives to you.

I will not adhere
to the burden of your perfection
I have placed upon myself.

I will simply be me.

With courage and confidence
I will break the heavy bonds of my hope.
I will burn the pretty picture
I've painted in my head
Of what we could have
Of what we might be.

I will look at who I am
And instead of wide-eyed dreaming
Of the life we could have,
I will love the girl I see in the mirror.

I will not want to alter her
Or change her in any way,
She will be everything I want her to be.

Then, I will finally achieve the perfection I long for.
Then, I will finally be free.

Was your voice an illusion,
That haunted me, like a ghost?
Was your touch just the morning breeze,
That tickled my eyelashes and woke me up?
And were your eyes just puddles,
Left over from the rain,
That dried out from the summer sun?
Because it was like one second you were there,
And you were anything and everything,
And all that was in between.
I could see you, and you were the moon.
And now it looks as if you’ve disappeared,
But I’m still here,
Clinging to the ragged ends you’ve left behind.
So were you ever there at all?
Or, maybe,
You were just a fragment of my mind,
That shattered when you left.

Secrets are what ruin our souls ..
Keeping what should be said behind closed curtains.
Why do we keep secrets?
Is it because we so not wish to hurt the ones we love?
I've kept things from the people I trust and need.
But has keeping things from them given me nothing but grief.
The power of trust should overthrow the thought and hiding.
Lying.
How are you? They ask.
Just fine.
Is the most common lie I tell each day.
I hide a secret, a man not too dense.
This man relieves me of the pain,
the hurt, and my lonely heart.
Gives me a reason to have a brand new start.
That is why I keep him hidden,
wrapped in blankets of lies.
Could the truth be told? Or bound to the book of secrets ...

Love is universal migraine,
A bright stain on the vision
Blotting out reason.

Symptoms of true love
Are leanness, jealousy,
Laggard dawns;

Are omens and nightmares -
Listening for a knock,
Waiting for a sign:

For a touch of her fingers
In a darkened room,
For a searching look.

Take courage, lover!
Could you endure such pain
At any hand but hers?

You know I'm terrible with goodbyes,
And I know you deserve one better than this.
But you know me,
Always better with words
than with actions.

It was my way with words
That made you put up with me,
Made you look far enough
Beyond my flaws that you saw someone
Worth the trouble,

Worth all of the heartache and
The frustration.
Someone I fail to see, myself.
Someone I fail to be.

You gave your heart to
Joseph the poet,
Only to have it broken by
Joe the *******.

The same lost cause that
You once saw hope in.
The same who continues to
Disappoint.

I only wish that my goodbye will
Be in such fashion,
So that I may never again disappoint
A love better than I deserve.

Gnats-eye lace scallops over
whisper-skin lady mounds as my free
range gaze, three thin sheets
to the wind, spies her midriff eye,
and tiny star-burst lines invite
tonight's tired sigh to imbibe life.

apparently, I have given you reason
  beyond reason to never
    call or speak to me again.
      did I break your heart for-
        ever more? leave you naked on the
          floor? all that you once trusted in me is
            gone. but
              he has somehow warmed your heart, so
                it must not have been taken from all lovers,
                  just away from me. a
                    kid, that's what I hear, and how
                      lovely she
                        must be, for you to
                          never mention her to me.
                            or maybe we were just kids ourselves? too
                              pure to be cruel, and to dumb to keep
                                quiet. and I
                                  really
                      ­              should stop
                                      trying to understand the past. to
                                        understand what always will be
                                          very vague. I hope our memories
                                            will leave you peaceful. buy your girl a
                                              xylophone and move on. I'm sure
                                                you could use the sleep.
                                                  zzzz...

Is it a rebound or simply love at first sight?
Thinking about that one person all day and night.
Emotions are flowing throughout your cores
waiting for the day for them to be yours.
People afraid of being rejected, hurt or overlooked
but when you see that one person you become instantly hooked.
Breakups and heartbreak were once a strife
now accepted as a part of life.
A stranger is just an un-introduced friend.
Can be in your life for a second or until the end.
Staying with the familiar doesn’t make sense
It can be the very reason you become tense.
People are attracted to the weird and strange
so that one stranger can help make that change.
Something that’s strange is needed by all
So once you have it don’t let it fall
If you meet a stranger just give them a chance
Cuz the strangest thing in this life, is romance.