Not strikingly beautiful,
but pretty.
Still, I elevate her in my mind,
so that seeing her would be a disappointment,
If it wasn't so nice.

I stood where the road forked in two,
Left or right, which do I choose?
Stealing a coin from a well,
I flipped, but as it fell,
I turned back; I'd much rather be with you.

I've spent it losing races,
Worn through my shoelaces
With countless (too short) paces.
        But you know what I mean.
Falling in love with faces,
Shallow shadows my eye chases
Through the old familiar places
        Of my monotonous routine.
And even on the off-chance
Someone reaches past first glance,
I won't ask for a dance.
        My old coat just won't come clean.

I wish you'd shown mercy
And shot me in the heart.
I'd be quietly sleeping,
Not pleading with the dark.

Now this bullet in my lung
burrows, night after night.
With each word, each breath, it sinks,
Deeper, farther from light.