When I was a child
I used to read pop up books
Of fairy tales
Always reading too fast
Skipping to the happy ending
I drew myself as the perfect princess
Long hair and a big heart
So ready to find a prince
In silver paper armor
That I didn't read into you
Rather, skipping to a
Less than happy
Ending
There were ***** of secrets
That you gently folded over
Like Mad magazine covers to hide
Your little mistakes
Folded neatly between our highlights
But one flaw became a ribbon that I pulled
And pulled
Until the full picture was open
A ruined page unable to be ripped from
My spine
No matter how hard I tried
I've looked it over so many times
It's memorized
So every time you try to turn the page
I see the words before my eyes
Until all lines blur with tears
Until I have to set us on a dusty old shelf
And hope I can forget
Where I left you

I left the stairwell
Tears in my eyes
Holding my red, raised cheek
Like I'd held your hand
Not so long ago
Forced
Like I didn't want to
Like if I held it together
Hard enough
That would fix everything
The paisley pattern of the carpet
Printed on my knees
In the same color as your hand
On my face
But the story you tell from that night
Is much different from mine
You got pats on the back
And congratulations
While I got whispers
And stares
And everyone thinks of me as
The Hotel *****
When really I'm your
One Who Got Away

Ace is a waterfall
And I should never let you go first
Two is you
And you always pick me
Three is me
And I always drink up
Four, floor
And you're always last
Five, guys
And I smile as you drink
Six, chicks
And you laugh
Seven, heaven
And I'm never as close as you
Eight, date
And you're always mine
Nine, rhyme
And I take your favorites
Ten, categories
And you pick cars
Jack is Never Have I Ever
And I know how to get you
Queen, questions
And you know I always lose
King makes the rules
And on my numb lips
I only taste stale Natty
Instead of sweet words
To make you love me forever
But then
If it was a rule
It wouldn't be real
Just forced
Like my laughter
At your friends' jokes
So I finish my beer
Crush the can in my hand
Like you with my heart
And continue to play
The game

Demons hide in many forms they hide, masking as friends,
Choosing targets, settling on me, wrapping me up in their plans.
Leading me astray, down a path of destruction
And just as quick they vanished Leaving me alone letting
The world take punches trying to get a KO punch
Knocking me down until I’m on my knees ready to
Give in

But God saw something in me be it pity, faith, hope, resilience
I don’t know but he sent down into my life A Trio of Angels
They saved me and banished the demons and gave me
Hope I was lifted out from the hole was given strength to
Get back out and battle back for my life. I feared no evil
Or demons, ready to fight back and accomplish and to
Never quit

Most people are blessed to see an angel in their lives
Once. An angel that got them back on track. I was blessed
With a Trio of Angels they work in magical ways
Always knowing how to fix the problems I’m dealing with
Knowing how to save my soul before it was gone
My life took a U-turn from where it was because of
A Trio of Angels

Just two years ago
I’d race home from school
Driving my little car too fast
Around country curves
To see if there was a thick envelope
With my name on it
From any of the
Twenty something colleges
I’d clicked on
All I needed was one
And that was my ticket out of
My small hometown
To freedom
To a fresh start
And that was all I’d ever wanted
Was one fresh start
Not one every weekend
I wanted to start over once
Find the love of my life
Or at least the one of my college career
And be done
I didn’t want to have to worry any more
For a while
But every Monday morning
I reach for my phone
Hoping to see a name lit up
On the screen
Even if its asking for
More ****** ***
Or if the thong you found was mine
At least its something
That makes it feel
Like I’m wanted

Man I swear she's just like tons of girls, she expects the free drinks
I go to your room every weekend
It's been this way for
As long as I can remember
And we hang out
And play drinking games
And I play "beertender"
For the both of us
Pulling almost cold Natty's
Out of your alphabet patterned fridge
And I fall more in love with you
And I think you fall more in love with me
And we take another sip
Drinking whiskey, she likes ***** strong
And your girlfriend hates me
With you
When you put your arm on my waist
Or you pull me so close
And then let one hand linger
On my *** when you pull away
Or rapping in each others' faces
Or stealing your snapback
Just to make you
Steal it again
And she can't stand when you push my hair
Behind my ear
To whisper song lyrics to me
My clothing's on, we both did wrong, I gotta go that's what I told her*
And none of the
Three of us
Ever do anything
To stop it

I’ve been in love with you for months
From the moment I met you
My heart stopped
But you were in love with someone else
And our paths didn’t cross
For months
And I’d forgotten about you

But one drunken night
I ended up in your room
And you kicked off your shoes
And asked me to lay down
On your pastel floral couch
So with my cheek on your chest
We talked and we talked
For what felt like hours
Then slowly
You slipped your hand
Just
Under the bottom of my shirt
I looked up at you
And
In the smoothest way possible
You said “What up?”
And started kissing me

And my fingers tangled into your hair
And your fingers spread wide
Over my ***
And pulled me closer to you
And we couldn’t get enough
In that moment
You were everything
Everything I’d ever wanted
And needed
And I couldn’t let you go
You were my breath
What kept me alive

At least for that moment