we walked by the haunted house
and made out on the front porch

people say we fell in love at first sight that evening,
but i couldn’t see until the morning

and that beautiful birthmark that covered half of your body
i ran my fingers across it
like some kind of seamstress

and you threw my legs over your shoulders
and bit my fingers and i couldn’t stop looking at your birthmark,
it looked like a scar

and i asked you to drive me to walgreens
something about a plan,
what we were going to be

but we got lost and tangled
and my kitten bit our ankles in the kitchen
where i made you black coffee and i rubbed my eyes
too much, too much, i broke a blood vessel
honestly way too much

i was scared of the bruises on my thighs
and i thought  i wouldn’t see you again

“i’ll never see him again”

so i drove to walgreens
and the girl at the counter judged me,
and i bought a donut


you're some kind of cinderella boy
leaving a broken cigarette under my mattress

your birthmark left a stain on my eyelids and my hands
and i forgot to ask your name

don't call me baby girl

especially when you're carrying my mattress up that tiny staircase and i'll kiss you on the hardwood floor and boxes are piling up in the corners and you'll say it over and over
baby, baby, baby

i never had the chance to tell you
to shut the **** up

if i did
i would have asked where you were sleeping 
and you would have said baby, baby
and i would have dropped my key out the window 
(only vampires need to be invited in)

wiping the sweat off my upper lip was the closest i ever got to waving goodbye, and you will try and try and try and you will never forget me
baby

you'll hear me rapping jay z's verse over and over, stumbling over that one part, licking icing off my finger tips telling you thank you thank you i'll do anything for you

and my ribs,
my ribs!
they’re made of plastic!

and look here
this heart shaped mark
just below where my arm bends-
plastic!

i sleep in a bed
littered with party decorations like silver tinsel
and pink garland
and
i have the loveliest
    *******
dreams of you!

hazy boy with eyelashes
crashing each time he touched the ground
(landing gear never works)
i would watch him untie his shoes, then
extend along my curves
mapping them with his signal hands
but the way he charted me
taking note of which route to take
i was nearly a temporary landscape to him
he was traveling
other mountains other countries
other bodies
collecting passport stamps
just below his ear
and a girl like me just couldn’t
fulfill a wander
or a lust
like his

looks like another night alone
a heavy eyed boy moving heavy boxes into your home
“i’ll see you tomorrow, love, when the light is new”
never felt as good as waking up next to you
but the way you crawl into my bed each time you come
well both those heavy eyes and i become undone
and you can blame it on things like running away
online, lost and found, reward, posted today
and wanted posters hanging around town
yeah, you’ve been around town
and i’ve been waiting up for you
but lover, i’ve gotta put you down
drink until that mark on your neck starts to fade
purple never looked good on you anyway

it’s when i’m sleeping that the wind curls my hair into sporadic gold knots

as though my body is asking for someone to latch onto

when someone is worth latching onto

they throw sea salt into my lungs until i’m drowning

my knots turn into nests

before i know it i’ve got birds living in my head

singing sweet songs about flooding in the neighborhood



i’m a good girl

i was taught not to wake the neighbors

even when a boy has his wrists around my throat



every girl has learned to balance the act of being good in the daylight,

pure and sweet, you must cover your mouths when laughing at jokes

while a bad girl wearing black carelessly knocks on your door at midnight



i let the sun shine out of my mouth until you’re uncomfortable, blinded

drenching you in sentences, compliments

i’ll give you a ******* sunburn, even late at night



i am a hurricane

and when everything is still, the storm has not passed

no, you’ve entered my eye

and that’s when i’ll breathe my sorry goodbye



you haven’t left me yet, but you will

not because i ruined everything you ever loved

but you realize a girl like me exists



when i’m done with you

you’ll wish you had evacuated like the news advised

boarding up your windows and getting the hell out of town

you’ll sigh along with me, and pretend you’re not scared

the sun will rise, you’ll leave messy hair in knots

dying to latch onto something

wishing you could name hurricanes in november