my chest is no longer a chest
but a cage which my deepest of feelings
find themselves trapped
with rugged locks offering the glint of freedom

they swell from deep within
their waves lapping against the iron bars
screaming into the darkness
begging to be heard through their piercing of my silence

but who is around to translate their cries?
who might speak the world’s language
well enough to decipher the mystic codes
in which my soul communicates?

these words will never escape their holding cell
and will never reach the surface
water will forever seep into their lungs
and their cries will become gurgles under the unforgiving pressure of the tides

no matter how far down i swim to their rescue
or countless rings of keys i try
my tortured words will never reach their page
or escape the deadly prison of my mind

it was a cold winter day when love left
suitcase in hand
messily packed in a rush
never predicting the tragedy of loss she would endure

it was i who was prepared
broken words running endless circles around my mind
suitcase in hand
neat and pristine

i was the tragedy

haunted memories running endless circles around my mind
perfection tainted by the poison seeping deep

surface level loving
digging deeper
how was i to know
this well
was a grave

but oh how perfect love was
a captivating collision of beauty and pain
shards of her
plastering every part of me

but oh how perfect we were
love’s extended visit straight out of a storybook
i was the one to open the door
what cruel trick of fate sanctioned me to close it

to see love was not to know love
but once you knew her
to see her was to see perfection

but for a messy human to see perfection
was nothing more than a road
diverged into a thousand paths
all cursed with the same ending

heartbreak is inevitable in a world of hurt
someone must walk down the road
how tragic that love must bear the burden of others’ self-inflicted pain
constantly giving herself away to those not stable enough to hold her still

oh how perfect she is
how trusting of the untrustable
how caring of the careless
how loving of the unlovable

and how lucky i was to meet love
halfway down the road

there’s an imaginary world i wish to suspend our love in
a world where time can be frozen
and moments hung in the air that surrounds
all at our discretion
a world where i never have to leave
because i never arrived
we were formed in that second
together
sheets pulled tight
but you held tighter
intertwined
bodies
destinies
facing the world
not around us
but in front of my eyes
loving you eternally
a moment on pause

now, i’m no physicist
but i believe
the powers of gravity
to lay far beyond
the tides of the ocean
and the pulls of the moon

if gravity
in all its mighty magnetism
chooses only to pull the earth
how might one explain
the karmatic lure
that graces our love?

through the roughest of splits
leaving the most jagged of edges
scars ripped through perfection
forever shattered by broken words

despite endless attempts at resolution
and countless finales to our grand tale
we always found our tears
to be recurringly interrupted
by the rustle of curtains being drawn open
for an encore of what was presumed to be lost

who has drawn these continuously?
consistently hoping in the face of doubt
to whom might i extend thanks
for becoming the self-appointed stagehand of our love?

why, it can be none other
than the beloved universe
that intertwined us from formation
expending the very magic used to bind us
to tear away our blindness
and once again
as if on cue
reunite us

the way the sun trips through the open window
and falls into her eyes
how her stare lights fires in my heart
and her touch sends me soaring
you ask me
how the questions of
what she is
and
what i love about her
are related
well, here is why, my friend
because the answer to both is
simply everything

i fall into you
as if i am a star
being thrown into
a new constellation
and you are my astronomer
telescope in hand
longing to get lost
in the worlds that fill my skies

i see the world from within the ninth cloud
heightened view of a broken world masks cracks with perfection

when i take a step back and admire all i am and have done
the beauty bursts with colors not seen by normal eyes

so bright it burns holes through doubt
so jagged it rips disbelief

i stare into the soul of the world i’ve made
the physical incarnation of childhood dreams
teenage goals
and adult realities

my love has jumped straight out of a storybook
and into my arms
intertwined destinies give way to a magical coalescence of perfection
a lil bit of this
and a lil bit of that
grown into the cutest curly-haired kid you’ve ever seen

little feet in a big house
big dreams in a small town
long life full of short love
short eyes always looking up

dreams on the big screen
sleepless nights piling up like the empty coffee cups
exhaustion beyond belief
the credits roll
pride beyond exhaustion beyond belief

one minute and the world is renewed
all hatred is extinguished with the power of perfect love
an impact bigger than ever experienced before
a new generation awakened at my fingertips

i am the change i waited to see
through the years becoming exactly who i always wished to be

i am the light breaking through the darkness
the second after the first midnight
a flower in the concrete
hope rising through despair

my name is synonymous with every good thing
spoken in every household
and will last longer than time itself

but of all the fame and awards i’ve received
and have yet to put on my shelf
my most prized possession is not what
but who

i’m luckier than amarillo slim
same amount but different kind of rich as bill gates
and forever grateful
for all i have
all i am
all i have yet to receive
and all i have yet to be

i see the world from within the ninth cloud
heightened view of a perfect world
a perfect life
a perfect job
a perfect family
and a perfect me

who’s four inches taller than before