In a rained-out world
painted in shadow
smeared by waters
and bus stop-
undeterred,
her red umbrella
burns crimson through
desolate darkness
like random library
selfies of beauty
buried in paper skin,
shielded by her
red umbrella

In an overcast world
stencilled in sorrow
her umbrella-
so red, so shiny-
reaches out to me,
taking all my woes
and weary waters away
when I hear her say-
"Hey, write me a poem
about a red umbrella"

In a sunny world
etched in joyance
dabbed in frappé-
my four-wheel red umbrella
drives us from
country to café,
where perfectly good
grand pianos meet
symphonic chaos,
amicably amplified as we mingle
under our red umbrella
~
NM
09/20/16

They say past lives don’t exist
They aren’t real
We just need to hear about ourselves
It’s how we cope, just how we deal

We only exist until we don’t
DNA is why we’re “unique”
Horoscopes and the cosmos are for a mind that’s meek
We romanticize as shortcuts to answers we seek

Yet we hear great songs with our hearts
Before our ears
And every time a baby is born
Or a person dies
We shed tears

The clock never stops
even after years
Nostalgia creeps in
worse than our fears

You don’t stop getting deja vu
No matter how many nights we see the moon
It still has power in engulfing you
So plump, so bright
A big flashlight for the dark of night
The light at the end of the tunnel
A reminder of the suns return
A reason to look into the sky
A lighthouse for the nocturnal voyages

They say dreams are fragments of memory
But my dreams have shared destiny
And my friends have found rest in me
Through the idea of divinity
I’ve found the best in me

In every empty room
The wails and moans of a ghost can be heard
The remnants of yourself
Or another
Will always hurt
Until the next rebirth

Thank you, A, for showing me
I wasn't the monster they made me out to be
For showing me that, in the end
Even freaks can have some friends

When you first approached me, I thought you were mad
For wanting to befriend someone so unspeakably bad
For a full hour, I thought you were a prank
That you were just there to give my chains a yank

In a way, you were my first friend
Hell, you were the second who didn't leave or betray me in the end
And the first I liked, but didn't see enough
I guess, for me, it was more puppy love

But in seventh grade, in a darkened gym
I sat at an empty table within
With so many seats, I couldn't believe
That you'd voluntarily sit and talk to me

And though we don't talk much anymore
Since I moved away and got more chores
Your memory always shines in my mind
As the first true friend I ever did find