Bait, cast, reel me in.
In to your trap.
Flatter, flirt, tie me up.
Up around your finger.
Push, pull, make me succumb.
Succumb to your will.
Shove, coerce, force me to feel.
Feel things I did not ask for.
Jade, cloy, leave me in secret.
Secret love for another.
Resign, decamp, abandon me.

somewhere
between 4 and 15,
your innocence was lost
in the angles of your cheeks

and the hardness
of your dreaming
wore itself down
like bark on a tree

now you're standing on an edge
looking over at the sea,
with softer hips and aeroplane feelings;
you know
that you are leaving

somewhere
after 4 and 15,
you learned to be gentle,
to hold yourself
more carefully

you were
a flightless bird.
you are
a girl, becoming
woman, turning
over her dreams
like tea leaves.

you know
that you are leaving
somewhere
behind.

I’m old enough now to admit,
I’ve slept with far too many women
which is practically less than a fraction
of the number of women I desired.
In a way I’m saying
not nearly enough, is plenty.

He drowns himself in cities:
Grey walls and blue lights.
Maturity, they call it, when
Blood turns brittle and eyes
Lock the soul. Warmth
Comes in bottles now.

I thought about growing up
Then I remembered
I did that a couple of weeks ago
So now what
I watched my old self
It was a wild girl
I once knew how to handle her
Now I just wanted to raise her
It all seemed so pointless
Getting wasted
Talking about seeing you on the other side
Now I think about slamming doors
I want to tell my neighbor how to change his life
To quietly close a door is power
It is control over the air around you
Because you begin to glide
But I don’t think he can do it
Don’t get me wrong
That wild girl looked so good
You never grow out of that
The problem is she wants conversation
And fun
You have to chase her all night
Who has time for that?
While I was thinking about it
I heard some chords on a piano
Everyone was impressed
But I knew it was a trick
It’s called practice
Sometimes it’s just better to leave
It’s better to be your parents
It’s better to be strong
Standing accused of being an adult
It’s amazing
To wake up so bored
Because there is no dread
No secrets
Everything is in front of you
Nothing is watching
Nothing is behind the bush
Nothing is in my hand
Except the longing to touch you
And that’s just it
I can’t grow out of that
It’s like love is always a child
I thought I’d buried it
I saw the flowers drop into the hole
But then they grew
I’d only planted them
Somebody said you were a nice girl
Yeah
You were
I know that
Wild is wild
But nice is loving a cat
And you did
I wondered if she stared out the window
But I know better
Reflection was not her style
Neither was regret
She’d as soon die on a plane crash tomorrow
As grow to be an old lady
It was all life to her
You just live in the moment
Then see what you got at the end of the day
Then forget it
But I couldn’t live like that
I had to assume I was going to survive
For a long time
I don’t want to beg
I don’t want to live in the cheapest place I can find
But I will
If I have to
Because I have before
Before I grew up
It was only a couple of weeks ago
Or years
Or decades
Or another life
It seems I lived one once
I think you were there
Unless it’s a dream
But there’s too much detail
I never sleep that long anyway
It had to be real
That’s why I grew up
Everything a young man needs
Was inside you
And I was there
Inside
And now I walk away
All grown up
Because you were so wild
And I saw myself on the other side
Emerging from the fog of your crazy world
But it was beautiful
Like a morning cloud in a valley
I was in the valley
Now I’m on a hill looking at the cloud
And I know what’s going on down there
Because you’re still there
Because I am an adult
And I hate it

When we were younger
the world was full of vibrant colors
who knew however, that as we grew older
the world would turn black and white

I look at the mirror, someone's staring at me.
I'm eighteen, oh gee.

I get out. Everyone's smiling.
"It's your birthday!", smiles all beaming.

Yet deep down I am filled with worry.
What will my life come to be?

But alas, it is my birthday.
I've noticed how much I've grown.
My face hardly changed,
but I know my actions have shown.

I am now legal.
A great time for most.
No, I will not be chugging down alcohol,
but I will write poetry to sing my songs.

I just want another chance
To grow up
My mind is stirring with the
False hopes of childhood
My pockets are empty
And my soul is tired
They say I still have far to go
But how much further can it be?
I keep slipping on the same slopes
Don't give me lectures
Give me peace