i keep a tally chart
of all the times i have decided
to run a blade across my skin

I don’t accept your hand-me-down home.
Your smell has seeped into the fabrics
of the world I’m trying to fit in to
and it’s choking me.
The streets are laced with your memories,
and your footprints are too fat to fill.
I am buckling under the weight
of the expectations that
I cannot measure up to.

My name is Adam
I’m intelligent and handsome and modest

6”4
your type on paper

I can reach the shelves
you can’t

I’m just a normal guy
I wear the trousers

I’m the type to take you to the zoo
I also have one tattoo

I’m like Marmite
keep your expectations low

Open-minded
no Tories

I can’t promise anything but
I did something funny once

I’m very laid back
swipe right if you don’t eat the pizza crusts

I’m always up
for a good time

I’m an all-round average guy
and a part-time Taylor Swift tribute act

I’ll tell you how it is
some people call me a hero

what more could you want?

Rain clouds in the distance
can’t harm me.
I am above them
as far as I can see.

they are weeping for you

and for now
I am dry
and warm.

your storm has passed
left me parched

moving fast. The
rainclouds in the distance
are headed for me

against the wind
they find
a route

aim and shoot!

the fire cant burn
my sodden soul
so I yearn

and earn my place among the drowned.