i watch your fingers flow
across the black and white keys
like the way rain drops sprinkle
atop the roof, so delicately and natural

i imagine those fingers
pitter-pattering across
my overly ticklish skin
oh, how i'd giggle and squirm

i watch the keys tremble
they, too, let out a giggle,
in their own pitch,
at the hands of your touch

i imagine what they'd
say to you if they could
utter any other tune

they'd probably say no one else
could play quite like you do,
with your pirouetting fingers
dancing up and down the scales

the only objections would come
from your piano bench
getting weaker and weaker
more brittle, as you get
deeper and deeper into
more hauntingly beautiful compositions

but me, i don't want you
to stop playing, piano man
for, it is only your melodies
that act as remedies
for my ever-wavering state of mind

i wake up with dried tears on the side of my face

i went to sleep smiling,
i thought
i dreamt of you,
as i remember

but i woke up with dried tears on the side of my face

perhaps my eyes see something
that my brain has not yet processed

they see your eyes trail off
when I'm enthused about my day
they see the way your body
is always slightly turned away

my brain gushes about the
sweet text you sent last week
and the future that could lie ahead

but my eyes are the realists
and don't ignore what my brain blocks
they notice the other girls
listed in your inbox

and my eyes know that
they've seen this all before
and the visions in my head
don't align with what you have in store

so my brain might be behind
and take some time understand
that these tears i wake up with
are not a deformity of my lacrimal gland

instead they are trying to fill me in
on what i am trying to ignore
and all these poems i waste on you
i will soon learn to deplore

i don't want to wake up with
dried tears on my face anymore.

I turn away from you and begin to fall asleep,
when I feel your hand rest on the curve of my side
My skin crawls with the electricity ignited by your touch
My heart rate escalates to a speed that vibrates every cell in my being
Making me certain you can feel it in the fingertips that now sit on my hip
Goosebumps prickle every inch of my skin
I try to reach for your hand but I'm paralyzed
Paralyzed by the idea of you retreating if I move even a centimeter
My muscles become rigid as they are flooded by the adrenaline pulsing through my veins
At this point breathing is the only function I can try to control
Slow down your breathing, he'll know for sure how fast your heart is racing
Speed it up, he'll think you're actually asleep
My brain processes a million electric signals that point me towards the dead end of this makes no sense boulevard
And then the silence is broken by the softest whisper ever to reach the inner workings of my ear
"Are you awake"
The spell of paralysis that I was under is broken
I turn to face you and when our eyes meet, it's a snapshot I will forever lock away in the file marked things to hold on to
Tomorrow this will all seem like a dream,
We'll laugh and chat in front of our friends as if everything's the same
And two weeks from now when I try to put into words the electricity of this moment, it won't suffice
But right now all I want is for your lips to meet mine
And for it to make no sense
But make more sense than anything ever has

I'll pretend that was your way of dropping a hint
And cling on to it like kindergarteners do to their parents on the first day of school
I'll probably hold on for dear life for a while
But before long I'll realize school isn't so bad, and the rest of the world still has a lot to offer,
so I'll  let go and never look back again,
Almost as if I've forgotten you,
But then you'll come back
And I'll run up to you and jump in your arms as if I've been gazing out the window the whole time, waiting for your return

Until next time, my friend

call me autumn
i'll be the giant pile of crunchy red-brown leaves for you to jump in
i'll be the ugly sweater you love so much that you pull out on the first cold day
i'll be the pumpkin that you dredge out the insides of and carve a jack-o-lantern face on

call me winter
i'll be the christmas morning that greets you with a heap of presents under a twinkling tree
i'll be the warm cup of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows after you come in from the snow
i'll be the groundhog that assures you there will be an early spring to end your wintertime blues

call me spring
i'll be the umbrella you dig out of your trunk that keeps you dry in the unexpected storm
i'll be the large cup of coffee that stays up with you through all-nighters before finals
i'll be the first flower you see in bloom after a long and cold winter

call me summer
i'll be the rays of sunshine that tan your flawless skin
i'll be the cold shower you take cause that ****** air conditioner is broken again
i'll be the hammock that you lay on as you stargaze and think about all the galaxies that stream above