Little bits
A Lego, a crayon
The small reminders
Of how I let you down

long after i’m gone
this pebble will remain with
my touch turned to sand

How am I supposed to tell you
That my passion
Is so deep and fierce
A wild creature caught
Pacing against its confines
Desiring only freedom
To live as its nature requires

I want you no matter how messy it gets
And at the core of me
I don’t apologize
I can’t be sorry for this

A slowly suffocating fire
Turning fuel to charcoal
No bright flames of light and warmth
Until stoked by disruption
it sputters to life
A final intense burn
that falls into ashes

Smell the forest’s breath
Sweet pinesap, hot brush, decay
The mountain’s flesh bleeds
sharp, fine dust; rocks clot the roads
Selfish love wounds its lover

I kiss the sunset
As I wish you good morning
You bid me gute Nacht
While dawn delivers my love
Darkness never comes for us

Allow me a moment to gush
I don’t have any girlfriends, you see
No, not that way. The old way
Like the friend you call from a pink princess phone
To tell about your latest crush

I don’t have a girlfriend who
eats french fries dipped in caramel milkshake
While I describe all the ways he’s amazing
absolutely gorgeous, smart, kind
There’s no vanity in him, he just wants to be in nature
She’d offer me a cigarette (I decline, well, maybe just a drag)
Are all men in Austria like this?
I don’t know, but I’ll ask if he has any friends

If I had a girlfriend, we’d drive around town in her car
(faded smoke, Hawaiian Tropic, sun-scorched vinyl)
No destination but mischief
I’d be blushing
Because she’d ask how far we’d gotten

Well, there’s an ocean between us but
Our souls touched