an angel and a devil materialize on each shoulder,

standing beneath the stage lights,

empty-mouthed, waiting for a whisper of a line,

but who is to say what’s wrong or right?

i know I’m not.

their playbook dances in my head,

so if not me, then who?

n.h.

it enters like a knife mistaken for a key,
unlocking parts of you that were safer sealed.

it does not knock.

but it breathes against the window pane,
fogging the glass and leaving condensation kisses.

you mistook that presence for something holy,
kneeling. praising. fully devoted.

it builds a fire in the depths of your soul,
a once warming flame has ignited much more.

with the burning ashes raining down,
you cannot drown the memories.

n.h.

when my love pours beyond
the rim of the glass,
i won’t cry over spilt milk.

what is longing if not a drop,
pressed at once with cloth in vain.

let it run down the table’s edge,
a river of devotion.

and if it stains the wood, so be it
for what is love
if it leaves no mark?

let it rest in the grain,
a memory not meant to vanish
but to remind me, i once overflowed.


n.h.

The hands on the clock can only count my love for you for one day, I love you for a million more.

t.h

Falling in love with you was like cliff diving into rushing waters, I knew I would drown, but I jumped anyways.

Nothing I did could stop me from being dragged down to the bottom, the sea of you engulfed me.

Water filled my lungs and you just watched me. I was screaming, kicking, and doing everything I could to stay afloat.

I forgot to tell you I can't swim.

t.h.

I felt you in the air that night.

The windows were shut but a breeze still ignited a wave of goose bumps all over my body.

Wrapped up in blankets, I felt the touch of your frosted fingertips on my shoulder.

My love was never warm enough to melt your arctic presence.

t.h.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think
about the way your hands felt
intertwined with mine, or the way
your hair gently danced on your
shoulders, or how your dimples
would form into canyons when I
made you laugh, or how your
freckles were their own tiny
constellations in the night sky,
or how the sound of your voice
could calm the harshest storms,
or when I kissed you it felt like I was
myself and I was comfortable
with you, with us... and I can’t
shake the feeling that maybe
somewhere I went wrong... I was
silly to hide you from the world
when you deserved to be every
billboard in the world. I was young,
and you were the first girl I ever
kissed, and that scared me.

t.h.