she dances around the world
light as air
everywhere

right in front of you
but just out of reach

she has sunshine in her soul
fire in her heart
butterflies in her stomach

her love is a raging inferno
so hot and bright the sun envies her
and you are icarus

the closer you get
the deeper she loves you
the more she burns your fragile skin

yet you cannot resist her
she is the light in your darkness
the only hope in your dismal existence
so you reach for her

the laugh that wrinkles her nose
her eyes that pierce your heart
blue as the sky and deep as the sea
golden hair wildly twisting behind her

and she dances
she dances with the earth and sea
floating wherever the wind carries her
she is a delicate dandelion
and a wild mustang

you can’t be without her
but you’re so scared of being burned
you walk away from her

you make her believe that she’s evil
that she isn't worthy of love

she was a wildflower
in love with you
and you are a ****

you choked her out
that’s how you killed flower girl

We're almost touching.
we were walking side by side,
you're talking about cabs in your hometown.
I can feel the gravity of your hand, calling my fingers
whispering "it's alright."

We're touching but not quite.
you held my shoulder to protect me from the passing cars.
and for the first time in a long while, I felt so fragile.
In this world where I find it hard even to breathe,
you believed me.

I almost said it.
All I need is one ounce of strength to tell you every single thing that I have ever felt about you.

I want to find home in your collarbones.
Would you be kind enough to let a stranger in?
I want to seep in your being because I'm cold.
The world is harsh and my cracks are aching.

Almost.

Step 1: Get out of bed
Step 2: Look in the mirror
Step 3: Practice your smile
Step 4: Eyedrops to hide the red eyes
Step 5: Conceal the dark circles
Step 6: Breathe
The curtains are almost up
Step 7: Lock down the pain
Step 8: Ignore the weight on your chest
Step 9: Silence the screams inside of your mind
Step 10: Choke down the sobs
Step 11: Ignore the stinging in your eyes
Step 12: Swallow past the tightness in your throat
You’ve put on this show a million times
Step 13: Don’t let them see
Times up. Curtains up. Camera rolling

I have been in this
Position one too many
Times, and this time
Hurts the worst.
But the reason I help,
The reason I care, is
Because I realize that
You have been there too
And I look up to you for
Getting through it.

Whenever you talk to a stupid person,
Speak less as he will learn much from
You, but waste that to prove  your words were only nonsense.

Andrew was a rather dreamy 8-year-old boy of average intelligence.  I had explained what syllables are, and given examples, then asked the kids to write a short poem with 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 syllables, to make a diamond shape.  Several of them didn't get it, and counted words instead, or just made the lines look the right shape.  This was Andrew's effort.

Please
little man
sing me a song
the sweetest song
that has ever been
with a harp
or a fiddle.
Sing a song
about the beautiful princess
or the sad puppet
or the thunder giant.
Sing me a song.

Would any of you have told him he had it wrong?  He had started off with an idea of the shape, but then the poetry had taken over.  I told him it was a brilliant poem - because it was - and not to worry about the syllables.