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Jan 2012 · 728
Chez Julien
Lindsey Bartlett Jan 2012
Lying in your arms listneing to
your exhales mixed with the
cracked window stereo
the sound of our busy city
and her calculated pedestrians,
cars, the occasional siren.

You taught me to appreciate the
sound of the street.
Listen to life more
and music less.
I'd lie and stare at your
profile, for hours if given the chance.

Your classic pouting
French lips
that always tasted cold and
fresh, as if you just got done
drinking a glass
of ice water.

The one, long, overgrown hair
that hung down to rest on your eyelid.
I asked if I could trim it,
but your wife wouldn't like it.
"A little salt in the pepper,"
was how you described it,
your thick, dark hair--
as if food analogies
could add comedy to
the situation.

Lucky for you, vieux monsieur,
I don't believe I deserve
any better.
But, my darling, you only
sound bad on paper.

To tell the truth, I loved
every combustible moment
spent with you.
In what universe
is a man like that
single?
Dec 2011 · 547
To Andy,
Lindsey Bartlett Dec 2011
He walked right by you
And you did nothing.
You should have screamed his name
Chased him down
Ran after him and thrown
Your arms around his neck
You should
Have stolen his hat
You should
Have forced yourself into his life
And glued your life
To his
Made his day
A part of yours
You should
Have told him that you've
Loved him
Since day one
Since the first moment
His deep eyes
Caught yours and let go
You should
Have told him that you've
Loved him
Since the first vibration of
His cigarette sweet mumbled voice
In your ear
And he would have asked
"What's your name?"
Dec 2011 · 430
untitled
Lindsey Bartlett Dec 2011
Do the Christian thing
confound them while
they’re young.

Put God in the filing cabinet
that is the four-year-olds mind,
in the G’s right after
Easter bunny and just before
Love.

There is no work of fiction
where the answers will be found.
Do not waste this life trying
to turn the next one around.
Dec 2011 · 498
Growing Up, Growing Away
Lindsey Bartlett Dec 2011
Back home where the air
breathes impatient aromas
of the wild west

Back to the family who
can never love you
as much as they’ve missed you

How you doing?
Where you been?
It looks like no one has
moved, same old
they’re all wearing the
same outfit
as the day you left

But you disappeared
you were the étrangère
you drank their water
you made a new life
maybe it’s in the water

And when someone asks
How was it?
And you have no words
you have your skin
and where your skin has been

And when someone says
You’ve changed
don't forget
they haven’t seen miracles
Dec 2011 · 1.1k
Dear Friends,
Lindsey Bartlett Dec 2011
I am giving up this
inter-webbing
narcissism spreading
social networking
site.

And I’m dedicating time
to the lost art-
a pen and paper.
I will take pictures and post them
on the original wall-
an actual wall.
I will develop and wash and rinse
and size and mat
in the original Photoshop-
a dark room.

And if I like something of yours,
you will know it because
I will tell you,
I will smile,
the original thumbs up.

And when you search my name
and find that I do not have a Facebook
no, I am not dead-
I’m alive.
Dec 2011 · 618
Stop Looking for Him
Lindsey Bartlett Dec 2011
he isn’t waiting
around the corner he isn’t
holding his breath
he isn’t glancing at his clock
wondering why you’re so late

he isn’t in the next room
his voice is not echoing down
the hall
he doesn’t go to your gym
nor your coffee shop

he won’t be in your classes
not this year
not next year
he does not live on your block
these aren’t
the streets he walks
your paths won’t meet
any time soon
his bones rise with the sun
you are drunk under the moon
Dec 2011 · 1.6k
Raphael
Lindsey Bartlett Dec 2011
“When I am with you,
I am fully with you.”
Les promesses
Loosely translated as lies.

I came to study
The human body.
Course concentration in
The opposite ***.

“I will love you
Even if its not in
A conventional way,”

An American in Paris
Working on a degree
In ****** anatomy.

An American in Paris
Top of her class
In infidelity.

Meet me at the hotel
Teacher
For an afternoon of
Extra curricular activity.

To succeed like you
Is my goal.
Under my sheets
under my soul.
Dec 2011 · 710
Dear Object
Lindsey Bartlett Dec 2011
My loving commodity,
the persona that you wear
like a plaid sweater
is what I’ll miss.
Your store-bought smell,
the factory knit softness
of your skin
is what I’ll miss.

I loved the slow
and shy ticking
of your motor-
a lullaby made
of metal and plastic parts
uneven clicks, so genuine and
so common. For a second,
if I listened very closely
and shut my eyes,
it felt almost human.

— The End —