I like the smell of old yellowed books
and staying up until three
in the morning
I drink coffee and tea
and paint my nails
a drunken red kiss
the surface of broken oyster shells
makes me smile
and I love those summer storms
that thunder and drizzle all day
I find elegance in mirrors
and in faded photographs
I really enjoy the sounds of hands
typing on a keyboard
I observe more than I let on
and I guess I'd just like to say
hello

I am hollow like the fragile bones
of birds soaring through the sky
I am numb as the anesthetics used in a surgery
I am quiet yet loud
I contradict myself
from my words and my thoughts
will you still love me when I break
time and time again
will you still kiss my lips
when I retreat into myself
to escape the pain I have seen
the pain I have experienced
I put my thoughts to paper
because my mind is to cluttered to hold them
thoughts spill out in a furious waterfall
of unspoken words
from my closed mouth
will you
will you
see the world as I see it
sit back and observe
the complex emotions, stories, lives
of human creatures
my mind never stops
rambling
I go on and on
I have nothing to say
I have said to much
I am not perfect
I am flawed and misused
I wish to inspire brilliance
but I do not know what to say
take my words away from me
do not do so
I may suffocate and die
I do not know what to say
have I said to much
of pointless things
I have said to little
I like to question the universe
rambling on
will you still care for me
with the invisible tear tracks
on my cheeks
or my uneven teeth
and my eyes that are to large
or do you even exist
will you care for me if you
are not real
this is it
I have lost my mind
bury me with patchwork canvases
of art from long lost lovers
this makes no sense
I make no sense
common sense is creeping into
my raging brain
I need to go to sleep

A teacher died at our school today
and tears dropped from black lined eyes
the chapel was full of
somber human creatures
praying without noise
sniffles thundered the heavy silence
everywhere I looked were red
swollen glossy eyes
and blank
pained expressions of sorrow
water fell down on ripe grass
cascaded down cheeks
and spilled off of noses
choked voices cracked liked fractured bones
the priests voice wobbled
a loose stool leg
as he recalled visiting her in the hospital
stranding strongly at the podium
tales of her existence  bloomed out of mouths
and watery laughter could be heard
from the classrooms
I
a lowerclassman
watched indifferent
yet silent
embracing my older friends silently
as they cried
we came together as a family
to remember a wonderful woman
Mrs. Hansen
may you rest in peace