One of you took my best friend’s life when he felt it was easier for him to die than to live in a house he could never call home. One of you sits in my student’s closet; waiting, waiting, waiting… for the day when he feels like he has finally had enough of his parents’ fighting. One of you took my little girl’s hopes and dreams away;
All because
she wouldn’t
do what the
strange man
told her to do,
so he pulled
your trigger.

By Lauren Salvo

Some call me the beginning,
and some call me the end.
My sunsets appear on your
way home from work.
Coffee warms your body
in the slow frost of my mornings.
Your mother and father were born
on my fourth day fifty-eight years ago.
And now you don’t know whether you
should celebrate or mourn,
remembering the accident
that took your father's life.
You spend my days waiting
for letters that may never come;
and wondering if you will get that job you
have always dreamed of.
You lay making lists of to-dos you
may never get done.
Next month, you plan to tell
your lover you are ready for the next step.
Your wishes are different now that it
is no longer last year.
It is time for you to leave your ******
apartment where the broken heater
doesn’t keep you warm during my thirty-one days.
It is time for you to learn to love me.

By Lauren Salvo

We wake up to the untold stories of us
that they think they know,
the voices in the background that scream
doubts into our ears.
Listen to me and I will listen to you.

They smell like jealousy, but
we smell like passion.

Their thoughts of us can be so sour,
but your lips taste so sweet.
They look at us and they can tell.
But don’t be afraid to open your
blue eyes to what we are
and what we can be.

Their words hit us like a ton of bricks,
but we hold each other to heal the bruises.
Now, you can close your eyes and fall asleep
right here next to me.

By Lauren Salvo

Time is what you feel you need,
and I don’t mind. All that I ask
Is that you don’t leave me blind.
Knowing you is like traveling
through space. There is no
gravity to hold me down
and keep me in place.
A continuum of hoping it
isn't too late.

By Lauren Salvo

Let's make love
and coffee in the morning.
Let's make magic happen under
the sheets.
Let's make time stand still as
we lay here
let’s just feel each other breathe.

What if,
all the words you said
are still true today?
What if,
tomorrow you decide to
kiss me and beg me to stay?
What if
you and I were meant to be,
but only in a memory?
What if
these nightmares
I've been having
turn into dreams?
What if
wondering
“What if?”
is better than finding out
what we will or will not be?

By Lauren Salvo

I was the one who would make
your voice shake and get
your hands all sweaty,
but now I’m not.

The one who kept
your notes in the top drawer
of my night stand, and kissed
you in your red pickup truck until
it was too late to be out.

The one who would sneak through
your second story window
when you wanted my body,
and I wanted yours.

Then, I was the one you couldn’t look at
as we walked past each other at work.
But after months of silence,
I sit here talking to you on the phone telling you,

I was the one who never thought
about you anymore,
but now I’m not.