nonviolent,
but for how much longer?

i've seen the doubt in your eyes
and it's turning to hate-
you've never known a cause
with so little hope,
you've never been part of
the resistance, never a stopper
of progress.

you believe in your cause, yes,
but do you believe
in its attainability
anymore?

i've seen the love in your eyes
and it's making you righteous-
i've caught glimpses of what
you're capable of
by the flash of passing streetlamps
and i want to see you
when you fall.

you've never looked so beautiful
as with your back against this wall.

'Q

Two years ago,
In a fit of braveness
I haven't matched since,
I told him I would always
Be a little in love with you.
I don't know how much
He remembers it,
But if he ever asked,
I don't know how
I could tell him
Anything but the truth.

'Q

I'm not feeling
excellent
lately.

'Q

I want those low smoky bar songs
To make you think of me
I want you to want to see me
In that kind of loud ***** place
Out of place
And a little drunk

I want your frown
I want your glare at the bartender
I want your hand on my arm
When French is all I can manage
French, and your name

I'm speaking French for you
And you never notice

I want a little strong something
To bring out those r's
And your concern
I want your "lightweight"
I want your done-in kiss

I want my bad decisions
To bring one out in you.

Because every page in my textbook
Is the way your hair gets curly
When you sleep for so long
After staying up too late
Reading
And cursing
And drinking tea
And going about some business
That's nothing to do with me.

'Q

Love is, I think, adjusting for time zones
Before sending any tweet.

'Q

Writing about you is cheap and easy:
Fast-food poetry.

I can queue you up in ink
Wherever a pen is given to me
With little more prompting
Than that soft black hair,
Those unhappy eyes.

You're new old shoes,
Worn thin around the edges
And where the world weighs the most,
But I reach for you for every long journey,
For every quick trip.
I wear you in line
At the McDonald's in the airport.

I don't order anything,
But I pour you onto napkins
And let you flutter away-
Nothing new.

'Q