She was a book, not a girl
but her thoughts whirled.

Round and round like a ferris wheel,
never forgotten, but never real.

Falling and falling from the clouds,
then she crashed, screaming loud.

“Are you okay?” I say to her,
but she says nothing, not a word.

I turn her over, look for her face,
but see nothing but a book in its place.

I turn her pages, one by one,
until all the pages come undone.

She opens her eyes and looks at me,
then says, “I’m finally free.”

he’s always there,
he’s never fair…

he’s itching to play
truth or dare…

but beware
of his spiral stare,
because his game
leads nowhere.

lights are bright
fights are kind
out of sight yet in my mind

serendipitous & real,
touched through the screen.

everything else is surreal but
these flags are green.

ready to go
so keep this flow

serene.

gently pushed against a car,
intoxicated

been kissed before,
but not like this

could be the flutters
of a first kiss

where there’s darkness there’s light, that’s what they say

but she’s heartless
and there was no light on saturday

how could she do this, how could she turn

w o r s e than those who damaged her?

no salvation, no “please,”
only devastation and scars no one will see

she’ll never have the life she planned in her dreams

They sit as if a string pulls
through their bodies
Some in shadow
Some in light

Waiting in a straight line,
They seem to have no end in sight.

The ability to sail
An ornate tail

In the distance
It's clear to see
nine or ten handmaids,
waiting to be set free.

they must be human,
they must have heart

but
they don't even start

when a head meets a brick wall.

in line, we wait
in line, they wait
for us to fall

they don't care

she says the world is ending,
they're scared.

maybe so

but I thought it ended
a long time ago

they came,
the sounds of our anticipated foe
they came,
what seems like forever ago

everyone's quiet, not a word

when can we scream!
death is so different from what it seemed

I walk for hours,
blend in the murmurs

I accept the deaths of my family,
not the murders

if I give in,
their black boots will stomp

in
different voices,
different skins,
different faces,

the same sins.

He bites his nail,
she bites her lip.

He looks at her,
she looks at him.

They look away,
they're only ten.

The bell rings—
"Hi! I'm Ben..."

our fears are like each other's,
if only we could talk.

always in disguise,
thoughts hidden with a lock.

against the starry sky

pushing,
pushing
away.

the wind blows,
the sky gives way.

the leaves
have emotion too.
they like to hang out,
they really do.

they don’t like being stepped on
they hate the

crunch.