Everywhere I look now
I’m reminded of the past
When we were kids together,
And forever’s meant to last.
High school was that future thing
You thought you’d never reach
Now you’re there, so unprepared
It’s still hard to believe.
I thought I knew just what to do
But now my paths are crossed.
It used to be all fun and games,
And time was never lost.
No one asked these questions,
“What next? How not? Why me?”
It was all inside the moment,
We believed in who we’d be.
But now I take the SATs
In Physics, nonetheless
I finally beat forever
I never would have guessed.
Girls wear make up everyday
And “like” has turned to “love”
I miss the way it used to be,
I miss when we were young.
‘Cause children don’t take SATs
And children don’t regret
Kids rejoice in what they have,
And loving what they get.

I’ve lived a thousand moments
Upon a summer’s seam
Where shadows are abandoned
Behind a filtered dream
Winter’s gone and left a hole
We fill it up with flowers.
But every little child knows
First there come the showers.
There’s no crime in being different
But unique can be a risk
Summer love may taste real sweet
If you avoid the autumn kiss.
Truth is better left unfound
Among the uncut grass.
Ignorance is bliss, you know
But summer bliss can’t last.
A couple hundred moments more,
We’re freed in summer sun
The hands have frozen on the clock
It’s all over; yet it’s just begun.
Innocence, so pure and clean
When summer light first fell
Now *****, broken on the curb
In autumn wind; it’s just as well.

I’ve lived a thousand moments
Upon a summer’s seam
Waiting for the time to come
When nightmares leave the dream
Where hope and love are simple
And dreams are made of glass.
Each one is a summer’s gift,
But summer doesn’t last.

She doesn’t like perfection.
Says it tastes like McDonald’s iced tea-
Sickly sweet and artificial.
That it looks like an over-starched shirt
worn by someone who hopes a professional appearance
will make up for their obvious lack
of preparation.
She doesn’t like going outside on cloudless days.
Apparently it’s like being caged
In a massive bubble.
She hates completely matched outfits,
because there are more important things
to waste time on.
She wears rain boots at the beach,
and flip flops in the rain.
She makes her sandwiches with the ends of the loaf
and makes sure to have an unequal ratio
of peanut butter to jelly.
She walks barefoot to dances,
and only wears makeup
when she’s not going out.
When I asked her why,
Why she didn’t like perfection,
She laughed upwards,
at the perfectly cloudless sky.
“Perfect,”
she said,
“has been done
too many times before.”

Sultry.
Heavy lidded.
Beckoning him in.
Parted lips in invitation.
Whispered promises behind red smiles
Perfumed wrists to draw them in.
With styled hair to keep them senseless
A subtle swing to the hips they love.
And finally a kiss to chain their thumping hearts.
But a promise made is not one kept
Hearts on a chain can be snapped
Suddenly, the whispered promises are gone.
Love never seemed so black
Easy give, easy take.
Beckoned him in.
Then left.
Broken.

Cinderella found the lock and key
Sleeping Beauty endured a curse to be free
Belle chose a man who hung on for a rose
Mulan didn’t give up though her heart nearly froze
Jasmine chose the one who lied to impress
Ariel sold her voice just to feel his caress
Anastasia lived when all was lost
Meg saved her hero at the ultimate cost

If I should have a son, someday
with thick, dark hair
And an easy smile
I will tell him, everyday,
that he is loved.
I will remind him every time
His knees strike the ground in defeat
that he is strong
and capable.
Every time he comes home
with a broken heart
that he won’t admit to
I will tell him he’s perfect.
If I have son
whose eyes sparkle mischievously
I will remind him, the best men
Got where they were not with tricks
But with hard, honest work
and he’ll smile cynically
like his father would
“Yeah, mom,” he’ll say
but I’ll only smile
Because I know he’ll remember.
If I have a son
who runs like the wind
And still aches to go faster
I will hand him over my pair of wings
And send him flying
And if he sings in the shower
And still aches to be heard
I will give him every whisper of my voice
Until he can shout across mountains
And if I have a son
I will hold his baby soft hands in mine
And tell him to keep those hands soft
And caring.  
Like his father’s hands.
And I will brush his hair back
From the stubborn forehead
And kiss the crinkled brow.
If I have a son
I will tell him everyday
That he is a man.

Sometimes, when I walk alone
My mind drudges up past mistakes
Past embarrassment, past awkwardness.
It replays them all in a reel
So as I try to escape one
Another rushes in to take its place.
And I start blushing uncomfortably
Even though I’m alone.
I remember them all,
My feet move faster
Like they’re trying to escape
All these barbed memories.
I want to erase them all,
Like that Spongebob episode
Where the drawing comes to life,
And Spongebob has to erase it
With a giant, high quality,
plastic-looking eraser.
If I took all these past awkward moments,
And embarrassments, and mistakes,
And wrote them down
On crisp, 11-by-8.5 college rule,
And watched them come back to life,
Could I erase them?
Forever?
Could I erase them,
With my giant
high quality,
plastic-looking eraser?