You sit across from me and
spit up garbled words like an infant,
you and your gassy smiles.

So I sit here, up late again,
and regurgitate them all on paper,
to get them out of my system.

Do you have to be less than whole
To be wholly in love?
All this talk about completion -
"You make me complete" -
Sickens me to no end.
"If you left, I would be nothing."
And you wonder why they leave?

I would be just as complete
With as without you.
You don't make me,
And I wouldn't want to have to
Make you.
You are whole and perfect,
As I am whole and perfect,
And together we will
Overwhelm the world
With our perfect wholeness
Squared.

On the days that I see you,
The poetry flows,
And on days that I don't,
Words won't even rhyme.
So you see, it's important
To the future of prose
That I see you as often
As you have the time.

Mincing words and little smiles
Not too much teeth
A delicate flutter of the fingers
And a calculated toss of the hair
Over a craftily twitched shoulder
Take small steps
And be sure to swing your hips -
But not too much

Dear God, the claustrophobic prison
Of tiny, perfect words and
Tiny, perfect movements
You've created for yourself!
Let me scare away every man I meet
Before I put myself in such a little box,
Easily picked up, easily toted,
. . . easily discarded.

I will be me, loud and obnoxious,
I will dance in the middle of the street,
I will wave to random passersby,
I will wear funny hats and bright red boots,
I will carry plates of food on my head,
I will laugh as loudly as I want,
And I will be loved for who I am,
Or not at all.

Not talking to you for so long
Is a sad thing to endure
But now I know of something else
That pains me even more:

That moment when I speak to you
And realize then and there
That if we never talked again,
I wouldn't really care.

He says we're the two loneliest people
He's ever known.

Nothing but static.

        Twist and turn the ****
              to get a better signal.
Something?

                             I thought I heard---
Ear against the speaker.
Never mind.
                                                                      I was mistaken.
                Whatever it was,
. . . . it's gone now.

Everyone takes the blue pill*
What was it you said once?
Security before morality and
The necessity of self-delusions.
But here's the thing:
How do you know that the red pill
Isn't just some wild acid trip
And the blue pill is the one
That keeps you in reality?

I know that I’m not what you want,
But here’s my shoulder now
To lean on. Break it with your weight –  
I’ll steady you somehow.

I know that I’m not what you need,
My arms can’t bear your load;
They’re weak, but look – my legs are strong!
I’ll walk you down this road.

And if we come across your monsters,
Though I can’t fight, I’ll be your shield.
And if you trip on past emotions,
I will hold you ‘til you’re healed.

Because I’m shallow, weak, and useless,
I cannot understand –
But I can listen to your stories
And I can hold your hand.

I pray God sends the person who
Will save you from your fear.
But, until you find your savior,
Know that I am here.