i hear you carry my name around
in your pocket [instead of on your sleeve]
so convinced that i forgot yours
on the bottom of a glass bottle

[but i could never]

when my mother turned my jeans
inside out to wash
she found your name scribbled
inside, over and over
and over again.

show me who you are, every nook and cranny
but wait,
don't take your pants off just yet.
I want to strip you
of your fears
and your worries
and your doubts
until all that's left are the bones that comprise your being
and the networks of dreams and ambitions
that run through your very core

i'll shut my ears and eyes,
but i can't shut you out
any more

(i don't know why you keep
returning when i have nothing
left to give)

i've been told time and time again that
we are made of stardust, to the point where it's
not even poetic anymore, it's just
science. and while they're something beautiful in
chemical reactions and the attraction between
us and the earth's core, there is nothing beautiful
about the way biology was ruined for me
in seventh grade when we dissected frogs and i realized
that's actually what we look like inside-
we don't house constellations or milky ways or anything
worth staring at
                            (but even still, i couldn't look away).

i wonder if there's any chance of us being rescued from our flesh,
i wonder if maybe one day after we're turned to dust
again, our remnants will break free of earth's gravity
and we'll get the chance to be stars once more.

(i wonder if the reason we reach towards the sky at night
is because we can feel our brothers calling us back home)

there are beautiful people
those who are easy on the eyes
for a moment we all fall in love
for that single eye contact we are all happy sailors
over the moon and the stars

yet they never last too long
just that forever of a second

there are kind people
those who give everything and more for the sake of others
who share when they are starving
who smile when their world has fallen apart

yet they are abused
people take advantage of them and stomp on their fragile hearts
and leave them broken

there are brave people
standing for justice, for law, for happiness
they perish everything

yet they are dead
the cause they have lived for only turns
into the ashes and dust
cadaver 6ft underground

there are dreamers
they say but never do
they think but never reach

they live and die content
unknown geniuses the world has missed

the world is cruel
yet the beauty, kindness, bravery, and genius still do exist
yes they do

the only problem is that these qualities
are poisoned by the very human nature that longs for them to exist

the night we camped in my car
in the backwoods of the city
I had an anxiety attack
so we drove to a gas station
got some water and antacids
slept in the bowling alley parking lot
woke up with ice covering the windows
it was only 28 degrees that night
but we slept safely and we slept soundly
because ******* it, we had each other
-

I dance about the pub, gliding-
To tell you true,
my only wish
was to sway with you.

We walked through the big blue door
into the cool night air,
bewitched by the music and the moon,
and the crisp smell of a spring rain.

You looked past me-
with sad eyes-
past the empty squares,
past the lovers in the alleyways,
past the dreamers at the balconies,
your eyes
betwixt and between
loathing and loving.

By the light of the moon
our duet changed keys,
you stepped closer to see

This is nice.

if holding onto me
like the sea hugs the shore

I like walking with you.

would bring you to the place
you had been looking for.

*Me too.