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?

It tastes like peppermint
Smells like snow
Feels like sunshine in a garden row.
It teases like raindrops
And giggles like flame
It looks like a snowflake: it’s never the same
It whispers like willows
And sings like the wind
It hums like a rainstorm about to begin.
It flies like an eagle
It’s warm like the sun
It’s the promise of love that has barely begun.

I will meet you at the end of your imagination
Where all your creativity has been used up
And the sky is white, and empty
And the grass stands stick straight in uniform
And the wind blows, but it moves nothing.
There, where everything is hopeless
And you’ve run out of time
And energy, and strength
And all you want to do is curl up
And block out the whiteness because you know
As hard as you try to stand
Nothing will change, it will all stay the same.
There, I will meet you.
And when I see you standing on the cliff
Overlooking the dead landscape
Of white, hopeless monotony
I will hand you a paintbrush
With bright orange paint.
And I will hold an identical one in my hand.
And the next time the wind that moves nothing blows
We will run with it, dragging our paintbrushes
We will paint the wind orange.
And everything it touches from then on
Shall be tinted with the burning of sunsets.
Then I will give you purple
And we will paint the trees
So every leaf that falls scatters the ground
With lush, seductive midnight.
Then the mountains will be red,
So when the snow from the tips melts
And runs down in furious rivers
The soil will absorb the fire and heat.
We will paint the grass and flowers blue
And let all their seeds scatter drops of sky
Across the landscape.
We will throw paint balloons of yellow
Up into the clouds
So when it rains, it is not water that falls
But tears of sunshine.  
And then,
I shall take every color of the world,
The new world that we have painted
And I shall paint you like a rainbow,
So wherever you step
You spread more and more color.
And we will decorate the end of your imagination.

Oh, love, you crazy thing
Pain you take and pain you bring.
Harsh honesty, that’s all you’ve ever been.  
A brutal mirror of the hope within.

To love, to love, the poets cried
The beauty, the wonder, the glory inside
Oh god, to love, it’s the only desire!
That as if to say death is best by fire.

Ah, love, the sweet taste of spring
The blind man can see, the deaf man can sing.
But beware the storms of summer love
You can’t see the thunder that lurks above.

To love, to hope, to dream, to gain
Like summer snow or winter rain
One moment flawless, the next it’s gone
Forever never seemed so long.

Promise made and promise broke
The silent dread of newfound hope,
The kind you know will just be shattered
The promise never really mattered.

The beauty of the rose in bloom
That hides the thorns of lurking doom
To love, to love, to fly or fall
Tis better that, than not love at all.

A melody and steady beat
Silver ice and burning heat
Amber glow and blinding light
Bright as day and dark as night
A heart as open as the sky
I'll catch each single tear you cry
And turn them into shining glass
That shatter when the tears have passed
I capture every laughing grin
And keep them in a crystal tin
And someday, when you need to see
I'll let all of our laughter free
Your every wish upon a star
I keep inside a golden jar
And when your wishes have come true
I'll give the old ones back to you.
Each love that you send away
I'll write their name in muddy clay
And when you want to take a look
I'll give you back the earthen book.
Every time you say my name
My heart keeps it to contain
Until your voice I ache to hear
And my heart plays it to my ear.
When I see you walk away
Listen, and you'll here me say
"Because of you, I still feel free,
Because you're you, I can be me."

She danced across the sidewalk

Her tiny boots splashing the puddles of color

Blue, pink, green, yellow

Her pigtails smudged with paint

Brown, blonde, black, red

She dances through the rainbow rain.



He walks to work, leaden, heavy

His shoes are black, but polished

With red, and orange, and yellow

His hat is dark blue and his coat is green

His smile is coal, traced in red,

His face white, with eternal teardrops

Etched on his face. 



The boy and girl, young, shy

Their hands delicately intertwined with strands of purple

Strings of yellow electricity

Jumping from heart to heart

Red raindrops fall up from the sidewalk

Gravitationally drawn to them

Tracing their faces before flying away.



The seagull collides with clouds of orange

His wing tips blue and wispy

His beak green as the sea

Purple fog tints his stomach

As he tumbles through aqua wind

My window only filters mango light

My ceiling the color of honey

The air above the floor is black

The space beneath the ceiling is white

And everything in between covers my body

In rainbow rain.

At Monday's lunch you shook my hand
We danced on Tuesday with the band
Wednesday saw us at the park
We kissed on Thursday in the dark
Friday, bells began to sing
On Saturday, I got a ring
And Sunday, dressed in white and blue
I held your hand and said, "I do."

A drawing I dropped behind the past

Never to look at, never to last

I locked it away and swore to forget
I thought I had, but I haven’t yet.
The picture filled the twisted screen
It said brand new, but a picture I’d seen
The drawing you placed in my hand long ago

And promised to follow wherever I go.

The promise was broken, though you held it true

I did the leaving, I broke us in two.
The banner I see was the same in my hand

So I peeled back the past without reprimand

No one was watching, no one would know

But I stare at the picture and the debt that I owe

I’m sorry I hurt you, I tried to forget
But clearly I haven’t forgotten it yet

When I grow up, I want to be a dentist
Astronaut or mage apprentice.  
I want to be a dancer, an artist, a king.
I'm hoping to stand on a stage and sing.
When I grow up, I want to be a lawyer,
Or have lead role in the play Tom Sawyer.
I'll be a comedian, and make people laugh!
Or the CEO with a thousand staff.
I'll be a waitress, a teacher, a vet.
Snow White's eighth dwarf that no one has met!
I might be a chef, or a scientist.
How about architect or alchemist?
When I grow up, I'll be a song writer
Or maybe your friendly, next-door firefighter.
I'll be a technician or pharmacy worker,
A fashion designer or New York stock broker.
I'm gonna be everything, just you wait and see!
But I think in the end I'm just gonna be me.

You say that you’re not over-stressed,
But I see the scars beneath your wrists,
The gaping holes inside your chest,
The bruises every doctor missed.

You promise me that you’re not hurting,
But the fire in your eyes is dead.
That fire once was always burning.
Now only snowdrifts fill your head.

You pinky swear that you are healthy,
But I see your body caving in.
Empty, hollow, sure but stealthy.
You’re letting all the nightmares win.

You’re singing loudly in the shower,
But you’re trying to wash away the past,
And forget when you lost all the power,
To love, and make the good times last.

You say it’s just the teacher’s bias,
But math was once your favorite class.
You’d solve each one with effort slightest,
Your solving now won’t let you pass.

Whisper that you’ll let me help you ,
We’ll break the clouds and find the stars.
It’s not too late for you to get through.
I’ll mend your heart and mend your scars.

There’s a meadow with the grasses growin’
Where my true love and I ran with the winds blowin’
But now a-days I walk alone
And all the grasses are done grown
The laughing winds that swish and sway
Wipe my hopeless tears away

There’s a river where there’re children playin’
Who scream and shout till the sun is settin’
My love and I used to sing and wade
Now it’s just me where the children played
The laughing winds that swish and sway
Wipe my hopeless tears away

In my dreams my love’s come home
She is mine from soul to bone
And she whispers her pretty smile
Which takes me away from this world awhile
Her silken skirts that swish and sway
Tucking all my fears away

In the morning, in the dawn
I see again my darling’s gone
Stars shine bright, but brighter was she
One mistake and they took her from me
I hear the whistle and whip’s hard crack
All my tears come rushing back

To live a life of endless bliss
Cannot compare to one’s first kiss.
To own to the earth and the sky above
Cannot compare to one’s first love.
Trinkets, tokens, bits of lace,
Cannot compare to your embrace.
A mansion on a private isle,
Cannot compare to your sweet smile.
I don’t need gifts to be delighted,
So long as love’s not unrequited.
And though it beats them all for greed
Your love’s the only gift I need

Your love, that took my breath away
Returned it just as fast.
Your kiss that made eternity
Was never meant to last.

What’s so different ‘bout love and hate?
It’s one of the main reasons we discriminate.
Like cars crashing down just to swerve past the lights
It’s one of the reasons we put up a fight.
What’s so different ‘bout you and me
And the road we take to eternity?
The path we follow ain’t some yellow brick road
We don’t live in a castle, just a broken home.
Lights will shatter, broken glass
Like broken hearts as rainstorms pass
Shadows dance so we can pass the time
Life’s just a game of meter and rhyme.
So what’s so different ‘bout life and death?
Both are dogs with ragged breath
Both baring teeth and dim yellow eyes
The only difference is our ability to cry.
Twisted mazes block the sun
A game that’s been forever, yet only just begun,
To a song that’s sung in a mocking tone
From an empty room in a broken home.

If love, however brief, be love
Then daylight’s end may be no care
Nor the threat of stars in the sky above
Or the darkness’ cold despair
So kiss me quick then be gone
The moon is rising fast
Though the birds will end their song
I won’t forget the past
I wander the abyss of night
Your phantom voice beside me
Upon the hill, a burning light
The sun, my only company
Though life is fast as fifteen pence
Love’s the best experience

Do you know how infuriating it is
To love you?
To wait up all day
Hoping you’ll get online?
Do you get that it burns
Every time I look at you
And realize
That you’re not looking at me?
When I see someone else
Make you laugh
And feel my blood boil in anger
Because I should be the one
Making you smile?
When I hear you speak
And feel jealous
When your words aren’t directed at me.
I walk specific paths in school
In the hope
That I’ll see you.
(not that I’ve memorized your schedule.)
And when you do finally talk to me
I’m tongue-tied
And silly
Foolish
Wishing I knew what to say.
Do you know how infuriating it is
To love you?
But the worst part
Is that I don’t know
If you love me, too.
And until I know for sure
That you don’t,
I’ll keep waiting
And hoping
And being jealous
Of your smiles, laughs, and words.
I’ll keep dreaming
That maybe someday
You’ll think it’s infuriating
To love me, too.

I promise I won’t break the chain
Or the heart it hangs from
I promise not to drop the hope
That’s holding on to someone
I swear that I won’t lose the faith
You taught me to hold on to
I swear I won’t forget the love
I felt when I first saw you
I’ll try to not accept the words
They whispered when I failed
I’ll try to cover up the stains
That all the teardrops trailed
I’ll give you everything I have
If in return you’ll catch me
Together we can brave the years,
Together we’ll be happy.

Can you outrun
The dying sun
That washes away the past?
I didn’t believe
We’d really leave.
Thought today would always last.  

But the sun will set
And those I’ve met
Will leave like the fading light.
And memories
Like wilting trees
Will crumble in the night.  

If we could stay,
Relive the day,
Would you come and live with me?
We’d pause the clocks,
With all our thoughts
Still focused on being free.

So take my hand
Run as fast as you can
We’ll see how much time we can steal.
Turn back the past
Make the moments last
You can’t even tell it’s not real.

We’ll live there forever
Our friends all together
Where the sun never sets in the sky
We’ll have all of time
With your hand in mine
There’s never a need for “Goodbye”

But you can’t outrun
The dying sun
Our time is condemned to be through.
They say that we’re home
But they should have known
My home was with all of you.

Coat the old snow, grey and dirtied
To pristine white, and show the crowds.
Coat the sky in endless flurries
Hide the truth in snowy shrouds.  
Let them see it solid, flawless
Before the footsteps break the dream,
And show the past we hid for solace
From knives that cut the fragile seams.
Tell them it’s a perfect wonder,
Nothing damaged, nothing black.
Don’t let them see the dying embers,
Don’t let them look behind their backs.
If they ask how it’s perfection,
Smile sweet, then smoothly lie,
In the endless recitation:
“Who cares to know the reasons why?”
Don’t show them all the broken windows,
Hidden in the snowy hills.
Swallow all your heavy sorrows,
And grin against the biting chills.
If they ask about the color,
Tell them snow is clear and pure,
And we’ve no need for any other,
That whiteness is the perfect cure.

Coat the old snow, white and plain,
Create the dream and make it last.
When they’re not looking, hide the pain,
Hide the truth and hide the past.

I’m afraid of tomorrow, so let me run
Freeze the rotations of the moon and the sun.
Grab all the hands of the clocks and hold tight.
Forget the distinction of morning and night.
Pretend there’s forever in what’s left of today,
That if we start running we’ll be able to stay.
Say our mistakes were all perfectly planned,
That someday again we can walk hand-in-hand.
Pray that each step has a foot in the past
And we’ll live every day like we know it’s our last.
Make me believe that your lies were all true,
That someday we’ll look and the sky won’t be blue.
Tell me the fears that I have aren’t for naught.
Pretend there’s success in each battle we fought.
Whisper that I won’t get lost in life’s games.
Promise my dreams won’t all die in the flames.
Sever the debts to the future we owe,
And run down a path that we swore not to go.
The sunrise is coming, so I’m starting to run,
And stop all the clocks before our time’s done.
Grab onto the moon so we can make the night last
So tomorrow is never, and today is the past.