your body was painted in
     red
     white
     blue
bracelets and longsleeves to cover
     stars
     scars
     stripes
like an american flag

because while some wave their flags
     proud
     strong
     brave
you found yourself fluttering
     torn
     half
     mast
except no one important has died

     just
          you

because when you said
you felt like you hadn't
     seen me
          in forty-eight
               hours

all i could think was that
i felt like i hadn't
     seen you
          in over
               a year

and as far as my eyes can see
i still can't
     see you
          at
               all

how much longer until my
corpse
is too broken
for all the kings' horses and
all the kings' men
to put my body
back together
again?

Words are toys
except more dangerous
Only fun when used
for the sole purpose of
destruction.

***** filled to their
brims with C4
Dolls with fantasies
to make your mother squirm
Trains driving fast,
out of control, off the rails
Games with just one winner
and a graveyard of
loss.

When you grow up
you expect the fun to
fade
But instead of fading
the game simply
changes
Your face becomes a year older
and your toys become a year more
deadly.

when i was little i
wrote poetry about
                                                  bugs.
i watched them
dance through the evening
                                                  sky
and­ at the time i
thought that they were
                                                  free.
free­, like i would grow up to be.

but i grew up and they
looked different to me
                                                  then.
the fireflies no longer would
dance for me, it was more
                                                  frantic.
l­ike they were trapped,
schitzophrenic, in cages of their own
                                                  making.
and­ i felt pity for them.

but now i see
that we all have
                                                  cages
and while everyone
around me is finding their
                                                  escape
i feel lost
between these narrow
                                                  bars.
i'­ve been here a long time

and i think i've
lost my
                                                  key.