Are you technically perfect,
  but spiritually weak

Are your words so well crafted,
  your soul cannot speak

Are your rhythms unmetered,
  your feelings unrhymed

Are you stuck in a format,
  that kills the sublime

Do your stanzas all end,
  their beginnings destroyed

Does your summation grieve,
  its parts overjoyed

Can you escape sophistry,
  your craft turned to art

Can you risk all rejection
   —to create with your heart

(Villanova Pennsylvania: November, 2016)

I said no to drugs once.
I looked a bag of **** right in the face
and, like a loving but firm father,
I said, "No."
I was really high.

define trust

trust is more than just
taking off our clothes and
revealing bodies to each
other
or looking me in the eye
as you try to get
inside me
asking if it hurts
and permitting you to
speed up a little

trust is in the way
you look at me
when it’s obvious that
people are trying to get
your attention
or admitting that you did
some of your
little mistakes
and temptations
you’ve recently avoided

trust is how
you hold my hand
when we’re walking
down the alleys, unafraid
of what
people might say or do
or when I tell you
I miss you and come
running right after

it’s more than just ***
and loyalty
and accompaniment

it’s when
I say sorry a thousand times
and you never show tiredness

it’s when you ask me about
how my day went and just listen

it’s when you tell me that
you love me when
I did something out of place

for me
it’s how you
understand
listen
act

so,

should I trust you?