The way of the world is      
deceitful                                                                
The way of the world is                                                    
  shameful                                                                            
The way of the world is                                                    
Ruthless                                                                        
The way of the world is                                            
  Hateful                                                                          
The way of the world is                                                      
Unchanging                                                                  
The way of the world is                                                          
      Us.

When I needed a google search to tell me if I was still a ******.

It took a game of dare or double dare to teach me I don’t know repeated sounds an awful lot like yes
and ******* can drop mountains on boundaries not yet built –
serrated edges on once innocent skin

I let you carve me.

Nine years later and I’m still trying to find air in the ocean where it all happened.
I took lessons, but I never learned how to swim.

I remember thinking you must’ve liked me, that was the reason
and returning the favor would’ve made it okay. I found you in my freshmen year yearbook.

But I was wearing a bikini shaped like ignorance and a smile lined with naïve

you weren’t reaching for my heart when you went to hold my hand,
forcibly lacing my fingers like ribs around your ****.

I still wonder if dropping the I don’t before the know would’ve made any difference.

No matter what I think about,
I can't get you out of my head.

You are the only one that I want...

No one else turns me on.
No one else is as handsome, smart, or perfect as you are...

Do I want you back?
A: Yes

i will ban
          syntax
          grammar

i will banish
          sentences
          phrases
          clauses

i will evict
          capitalization

i will exile
          all punctuation

i will relegate all of these to the
          circular file of written expression

it is time
at long last
for words to
squirm and falter
but ultimately prevail
in their singular
              splendid
              glory

his eyes were dead dull
but his intellect was sharp

his demeanor was mild and dignified
made her more triumphant and less terrified

he did not see her screaming imperfections
but seemed to know all her silent actions

love for him  was a blind leap into the future
confident of a soft landing on green turf

So she learned to see things with her heart
and surprised herself with the riches there