I've read a love story
A billion times in my life
Every page the same
Every dustjacket adorned with the same
Cover design of two sultry lovers wrapped
In each others' arms, lips pressed together in
A kiss

He was a man and
She was a woman;
They were destined to
Be together

Your story is nothing unique
Nothing different
Your words are the same as those
Scrounged together decade after decade
Centuries cascading to produce the same
Love story under a thousand names

It's your straight romance
Your promise that everything will be okay and
That you might have kids one day
And a nice house without fear of
Being killed for your identity
And out of my hatred for you is
A deep envy and a desire to have
What you were born with

You do not have to fight for
What I have earned

Do you have any idea
How much I love your
Purple sunsets and your
Old baby blue guitar?

The way you play for me
On the beach late Wednesday
Night before the cops bust us
For breaking curfew

Bury my feet in the sand and
Hold my head down beneath the
Waves like you hate my guts
But I know you love me

Only you will sing to me when the clock
Strikes midnight or pour out your
Heart to a stranger

I love nothing more than sensationalized
Love stories, since I must admit that I'm
Only really romancing the idea of you
Since I think you're missing in action

And that's okay

How can you take anything
Seriously when such a thing as
Laughter exists?

I'm a mortar shell deprived of black powder
And there's nothing left but the echoes
Of an explosion I once delivered lives
Before the one I'm living now

Melt me down for scrap and fit me into
Something new so I can fly again

You arrived like snowfall,
Silent and white

You left like a storm,
In anger and spite

Your voice carries on the wind
And I wish you well in the
Ruin you sowed back home

You're a house in black,
Lit by a dying sun

You're a song written by
A woman long dead

*******

I got a glimpse of what I'm going to be
Last winter, a year ago
When I trekked New York City and bought
A pair of suede shoes and cursed
That statue of Abraham Lincoln in the
District of Columbia

I'm only getting answers now;
The questions are up to me
And there's a whole lot of freedom
When the Devil comes begging for mercy and
The world bows to do your bidding because there
Is nothing more powerful than a person
Who knows their mettle

I met you in a cloud down by the quarry
And we were there to watch it when
God cursed the crows with their raucous
Voices because they told too many of His secrets
When he wasn't listening

Looking into your eyes I see a deep
History of ups and downs and
Promise and venom and I need you to
Hold on

Hey,
It's not that bad

You know that
You feel that
You see that
You're rounding out now and
Growing comfortable in this world
We've built up just
For you

Listen though, little fighter --
It's a tough place to survive but
I know you have
What it takes

The stars are shining and the
Voice of Louis Prima is leaking
Through my earbuds and for now,
I've gotta take some time to myself;
This is my peaceful time,
Buona Sera

I ripped you off like a band aid.
Out of my life
Gone for good
But not until I knew I wouldn't need you anymore.
You took parts of me with you
Like how a bandage takes off some skin
Maybe a little hair.
I have healed.
And now, you've pushed me
Knowing I'll trip
Fall
Cut and bleed
Cry.
You pushed me knowing that you'd be able to patch me up with band aids.
And I know that I'll have to rip them off
One by one
All by myself.

I've got my eyes on the sunrise
Meet me at the gate
And tell me I'm your yesterday

There's a nail in your skull
And you're pulling it free,
I can see
But it's not my place to help

Instead, I'll read mysteries in the café
By the waterside and wish you the best
With your boy trouble in the Golden State
But I really wish you'd
Ask me for advice one of these days

We're the bezel-born,
Birthed on the outskirts
Of all that's known to
The world that chewed us up and
Spat us out

I know my place,
Little angel,
And the time;
It's on the little silver band
On my wrist and
All you have to do is ask