I bit down
hard
the chocolate
seeped
a thick syrup
trickling along
-side a river dam

you feel
a rich explosion of rich severe cacao

tensed bony hands, cradled
the writhing, frantic puppy

Out of,
out from star
                               vation
to Purpose

A hundred scattered pieces of paper,
a mist of inky blackness,
and a lure to blast out of one's comfort zone
can launch oneself into

history
a rascal and his white picket fence,
fairy-tales,
or an AR monstrosity of reality,
a monster lurking maze,
a camp for half-bloods,
or
a school of witchcraft and wizardry.

But nothing
is like home.

I'm all mixed up
ready to blow
explode into pieces
and then turn into a stink of a mold.

The experiment was a fool's mistake
all that's left of me, a shell.

That's why I shouldn't have let myself go
in order to make myself yours.

Like a science experiment
I feel as if that I have to
pour in a vial

grind in a sprig of love
drip in a little beauty

cough in some hair dye.

Stir in a bit of makeup
boil until the moon
shines, "it's alright".

Shred in different cloths
pour in a bit of sass.

How much longer
how many tillings left/
till
I am now

success?

I have a friend
with struggle spelled in her eyes
tears that leak,
drip,
drip-
ing down to
her stomach
is flat-

Bony are her elbows
wobbly knees
and ankles.
She runs day and night,
screams rebound across the sea.

I have a friend called
An. Ne.

She can be in
you
She can be in
me

Dear Edward,

[When]
In Search of Lost Time[,]
[Try} Looking Through the Glass Of Mice and Men

Anne of Green Gables
'Knew Why the Caged Bird Sings

[While] The Great Gatsby
[had]
Great Expectations
[in]
A Tale of Two Cities

[T'was]
Steel-heart[ed]
[but]
Insufferable

Ida B.
[friended]
Jane Eyre,
Emma,
Rebecca,
Matilda,
Heidi,

Robinson Crusoe,
Frankenstein,
Dracula,
Ulysses,
Pippi Longstocking,

Othello,
Hamlet, [and]
Sherlock Holmes-
[and?]
The Catcher in the Rye

Something Wicked This Way Comes[-]
I've Been Told There'd be Cake
[but alas, too late-]
Things Fall Apart
As I Lay Dying

...

Far From the Madding Crowd
Tender is the Night

The Grapes of Wrath
[is found when]
Looking for Alaska
[with]
The Fault in Our Stars[...]
[a.k.a.]
Romeo and Juliet

To **** A Mockingbird
[thy needs a temperature of]
Fahrenheit 451

[One more thing-]
Pride and Prejudice
[is]
Deathless

[Okay, fine, more than one:]
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
[was at]
The Last Book Party

[so were the]
Invisible Monsters
[and]
The Lord of The Flies[.]

[In the]
Dying of the Light[,]
Divergent
[and]
Breathless[,]

[emerged]
The Lightning Thief

...

[Ultimately, in the end]
[strikethrough "And Then"] There Was None


Love,
Stargirl

You carved in my dreams
molded my future

sanded my fortune,
(with naught a mistake here or there!)

painted my talents
decorated my path to walk

pinpointed my identity

I see
myself in
the gentle sheen, where a pale figure stares
and beams
back at me

(cue: "i am confusion")

My name is pup
and when I sleep
inside a sock
its yarn I eat

I open my eyes
the sun is up!
I eat more string
My name is pup

I read during the
rainy nights, watching the
drops of letters,
ink,
that
can't
be
controlled
.

In my broken hands,
I hold,

scripted dances of hopes
only for you

only
to unfold

The rain drops spelt out a dance of words
They would twirl and sink, flop around and blink
The sun came out
Now a disco party's happening
making the drops shine and gleam,
but when will it be night?
Tik tok
Tik tok
The moon crept up
pounced on the sun.
"YAY" said the droplets. "NOW LET'S HAVE SOME FUN"

The moon was deaf
The moon was blind
The moon was vain
without a hair in sight

The moon was a party wrecker, but
another host the drops couldn't find.

The droplets grumbled and sank back
"Tomorrow we can and shall find
someone better,
much
better,
like the sun! We have in mind"

The sun came out!
"YES" screamed the water

Alas, they had only half a second to spare
till they were dried
to bare to bare

at least
soon, they will be birthed sky-high
in the clouded
skies

My forehead reads,
"nothing here"
My back twists,
"kick here"
My heart sings,
"break here"

My name tag blares,
"surviving here"

Tap, tap
knock the hammer harder,
grip it tighter
***** a bolt over here,
send a little love over there
Polish it smooth,
sand it softly till like its new.
See her brighten up,
smile in that way you love,
when she sees her birthday gift

Stars rest on the
skies, I reach up and up
only to sigh,

"If only he saw"

A dripping branch
dipping into a
swirling pond
admonishing the
blushing pond lilies

My yard is overGrown
Stalks of green r--eaching up
towards the unfathomable blues

seedy dandelions taunt me,
flaunt their aged crowns at me

deep, drooping
roses
colored in sunset hues
beckon for a chat within its perfumes

Flower seeds  
(now, post-sprout)
grew
smirk
          at me
nestled between the
raging crowd of fresh weeds

"Well, adieu to you soon," me thinks.

Dew drops wink at me
charmed from up above the leaves
of my little mulberry tree



Our apple tree is barren once more
I blame the squirrels
they ate all of her fawn,
the oranges', too

yet why do I judge:
our orange tree is Stubborn


Hopefully the promises of rain
will
free you up,
stubborn one

or
maybe
we
need more gifting,
more fertilizer
and a tiny
                       bit more of love

Her fingers plucked
the strings-
vibrating

all over
me

She struck
against
the hollow
wood

on her knee

Her bow
danced across
the
silvery strings
She breathed

in
and

out
and started

playing double time
for me

Laying back on the soft grass,
I whisper your song.
The clouds are fluffy and white,
the blue skies are peaceful and bright.
The picture of paradise.
You wouldn't know
that
someone is slowly dying
right there.
Where?
Under the tree.
But-
Yes,
That's me.

Bright yellow suns
with glowing white orbs
A splash of colors
on your white coat.
Pink blossoms bloom
out of rusted, old pots.

I seek, I rush to find
a sweet
from the bag of soft dreams
resting by your side.

Open your mouth,
let a chorus of words fly.
Is it Navajo? Korean?
Indian? Or Spanish?
Armenian? Or Swahili?
Amharic? Or Bengali?
We need to open our eyes
Spheres of cultures dance around us
Reach up and pluck one
from the sky,
search within,
for an expansion
of your mind.

I found her.
She's hiding.
She's in the halls
of the greats.
She's got the same spark
the same confident glint in her eye.
But where's that bright smile?
The skip in her walk?
The fizzy hair bands had shrunk
shrunk down
to two.
Two is better than one.
But she's alone,
without you.

Come back home

Korean.
Tall.
Confident.
Enthusiastic.
Sweet.
Humorous.
Intellige­nt.

Fizzy

hair bands
on each
wrist
Do you know this person?


-MISSING-

Creeping on me

was your dream

it wasn't my choice;

yet I willingly
agreed.

A lopsided smile,
a twinkle in his eyes.
Towering stature,
with his messy curls shining in the light.
A hint of teasing
in every word that he spoke.

But
you sure missed the softness of
those hazel eyes,

   Anne
Shirley-
                       Cuthbert.

It was a tendril of fire
Too hot to touch
Provoked the fire,
it was quite a shock.
Her flashing eyes shone-
"How dare you!"
she shrieked.
and slammed down, onto your head-
('You can never earn my mercy' she thinks!)
-with a slate.
Crack!

"Try and try again"
didn't work
this time.
Or the next...

Shake your head, rub your eyes
You'd regret angering the fire, cause
it laid you out supine,
cause
that was the moment you
fell in love,

Gilbert
              Blythe.

'Thud, thud, thud' whispered
the drops of the sky's tears
drip, dripping on me

I stitched on a poem
needled it into my mother's scarf.

As I sowed, my needle keened
joyously, out a chorus of thread!

But when that lifeline ended
and the thread was no more,
it copied itself onto a new melody.

did I really need
that        scarf?

Harsh blinding glaring light,
eyes fluttering,
heart rendered!

Eyes quivering into spindles, as
knees wobble,
reverberating hands shake.

You teeter onto the edge.
'I wish',
you think,
'risk didn't taste
so sweet,
didn't shape
my late list of to-do's.

But it
is
too late for
that.'

You poured it--
shoved it into my gasp,
--my throat,
yet
why is it that
you're weeping
over me,
me who's now asleep?
You never could hurt me directly.

When I come back,
don't expect me to
run back into those dead-end arms.
to: My friend

Taste the fresh air, but
Not the radiation; when
I look: shadows scream