when i find refuge
only in dreams,
where i run from reality
before i could blink
wake me up before
i turn into
a nightmare.

you, saying my name
is one of the reasons
i get up in the morning
and the only reason
i have to sleep at night.

on a sunday
we went to church
a bit earlier than most
mother knelt down
and in a rare time,
father knelt with her

i could almost feel
my mother's fervent prayer
emanating from
her bowed head,
with clasped hands
she was a sight,
like a rose offering
gratitude to the earth and sky

but from my father
i thought i heard a grunt
or a sigh, or a snore
between sealed lips,
he was dreaming
while he knelt in front
of a church pew
tiredness, perhaps.

I see shiny coins,
flawless paper,
I buy things
with crumpled currency
first

I see pictures
women with curves
men with abs
no one without

I see roses
in full bloom,
crimson,
long-stemmed
and perfect

Everything I see
will always
be better than me
but then,
I can never be
just a thing

I ask myself everyday
am I worth it?

we are waves crashing
we are strength and beauty combined
for every time that we chance
upon the shore,
we end up going a few steps back
falling farther away from land
taking us deeper into unseen depths
where what lies beyond is uncertainty

you should be the sand
while i should be the water
that imprints patterns
along your body

or i should be the air
taking you to endless streams
where we could be whirlwinds
gathering up bounties
for our flawed existence

but we are waves crashing
and even if the sun
becomes too extreme
or the shore is too far from reach
i won’t get tired
of falling in and out with you
even in midnight summer dreams.

I stack my pillows up high
before I sleep at night
so my dreams have a fortress
where only a lone knight
can conquer, to rid my dreams
their unfortunate plight
before I wake up in tears
in the break of a sunrise.

if you break her heart
i will tear your heart into pieces
and scatter them on a riverbed
where the water flows
to the seven seas

when you try to find them,
you never will
because by that time,
the pieces would’ve been
washed up on uncharted islands
and you’ll end up with
the salt from every tear drop
you made her cry

you see, you must never hurt her
or you’ll drown in the great expanse
of the ocean, her ocean

if you do, you’re better off
finding love during sandstorms
in an arid desert

if you’re not ready to swim,
you should never
dip your toes in water
in the first place.