In November I met that love
and by the end of summer we ceased.

Two months later came, like it does.

He snapped his collar bone from skating the bowl.
I got drunk alone and spewed guts on myself after the first hour.
Only one was a side effect from the breakup.

Too scared to face it, we pass by with silence,
too many different kinds.

One day.

But I don't think I'll be able to say anything correctly.

Small talk.

He remarks, "My bone is healing up."
Well.
All I have is, "I'm still throwing up."

He walked away
But he looked back
What I would say
If I could have
I miss the days
Before gone bad
I miss the way
We were not sad
You cannot stay
Well that is that
It's your choice babe
I hope you're glad
Choice I would make
Wouldn't be that
But it's too late
Too late for that
He walked away
But he looked back.

When my daddy leaves me,
I will sleep in his button-down, collared shirt.
I will smoke one cigarette each year on his birthday.
I will always sit in the last seat of the row at the movie theaters.
I will set a pack of junior mints down on his grave religiously.
I will learn how to play 'Stairway to Heaven' on the guitar.
I will always address my waiter or waitress as Sir or Ma'am.
I will become lifelong friends with perfect strangers.
I will always keep a pack of minty gum in my car.
I will watch National Geographic documentaries on how the universe works.
I will learn how to make delicious, impeccable chicken fried rice.
I will never, ever spank my children.
When my daddy leaves me, I will remember him
With all the little things I do.

Images floating in my head
like balloons turning in the wind
they soar higher and higher.

Holding hands under water
and the unbearable itch of bug bites.

Higher they soar.

Meeting a friend, and the heart-breaking cries
of a sister in her room late at night.

Colorful balloons growing smaller the higher they go.

Making love in my yard in the dusk, too quick to savior,
but urgent enough to be remembered.

I can barely see them now.

Black pupils dilating
only because we're in love.

The balloons disappeared over time
but I will always know they are there.

That's what counts.

Funny how
When in the car
Watching out the window as marks in the road roll by,
It can all appear so fast.
Too fast for your eyes to keep track of
The yellows and whites that flash.
Individual streaks blurring into one mass.
But focusing more closely,
One could watch them slowly,
Only if they took it one line at a time.
Funny how life is.

My love is like the wind;
You drift away from me.
And our love has yet to begin,
At least that's how it seems.

My love is like the wind;
With you I never win.
But with you in my hair,
And you everywhere,
That's how it's always been.

It gently rocks her to sleep,
But a sleep filled with nightmares.
It sweetly drowns her lungs,
Leaving her desperate for air.
It lovingly shoves stones down her throat, making it impossible to swallow.
Finally,
It thrashes her against the jagged rocks that lie in the sea.
All she ever wanted was just a dip in the water.