Along the coast
I watched your breathing,
your hair wet
with spray
and you entirely
beautiful.
I thought:
How can I not fall
in love with you?
The beach
was a place
where you knew vague death
and life vaguely
and I knew only
discovery.

Everyday and every night
I stare at your name
A box open, thinking of all the things i could say
Something witty, hoping to draw a smile
Or something flirty, hoping to draw a blush
To the beautiful face of the beautiful girl
That has my thoughts in a scramble

I have never been this unsure
Of how to approach a girl
And the thought of you frightens me
Because I don't know what you've heard
About the things I did, but worse
The things I would never do
That were spread around like the gospel truth

I want you to love me
Because two is better than one
And our pair would be the happiest around
But I can't pull the trigger
And set the wheels in motion
Because this heart can't bear another rejection
So I am begging God, that you, darling, will take a chance on me

thrift store blue roses
metallic nails and
sleep deprived daily.
A chalkboard with lines that
won't erase
spirits running past
in the elongated hallway known as
maze.
straight through
straight lost
portraits and swinging attic doors
a girl named Lisa
a boy named Frank
poems entitled "******"
soft, pink, cotton candy
organism, few
silver, purple, rubber
lining that
won't erase.
"I see you."
with my tiger jaw
with my shark eye
"I feel you."
with my sandpaper *******
with my speckled poison ivy legs.
with my view of planet earth.
with my hatred for auto shops
and greasy black bike handles
marker stained support
picket fences
picket signs
I wish, I wish, I wish.
I dream
I run
I away
I to
I the
I mountains
I because
I I
I am
I filled
I with
I dusted
I joints.

I meet a lot of people
Who talk about the books they read
Mentioning titles that impress me
Praising authors beyond my degraded tastes

Yet I never run into these avid readers
At the bookstore I frequent
At the library branch I visit once a week
Hoping nonetheless

For that meeting cute
When I cinematically place my hand
on that book I've been eager to read
And she puts her hand above mine

And I say Go on -- you check it out
I'll get it when you're finished
Even though I know and she knows
That she plans to never return it