i wrote “i love you”

in the fog on the bathroom mirror

after washing you off my skin

and stood there staring

as the words disappeared slowly

running like tears down your cheeks

running like we were running

out of love

out of time

ending up dripping down the drain

of the sink

under the bathroom mirror

you slid off me

as easily as fog slides off a mirror

she was made up of stolen words
words meant for other girls
other more beautiful girls, more popular girls
girls that had guys write for them
about them
she would read those words
all of them
and she would dream
and she would fantasize
she would memorize
the way they rhymed or didn’t
or the way they sounded
eventually she would become these words
she would be lovely as a summers day
more beautiful than a butterflies wings
she would flow
she would rhyme
or not
one day she would be noticed
and loved
and others would read her like a book
a book they couldn’t put down
one day she would be a…
poem
she would be poetry
words that everyone read

but she would know better still

i caught summer in a mason jar today

down by the atlantic shore

it was just passing by all nonchalantly

like it was supposed to be here

this time of year

but i’m too crafty for that nonsense

i took it home with me

and put it on a dusty shelf

reserved for my old first editions

one day next winter i will bring it down

from it’s dusty perch and reminisce

smelling the sunshine and sea

and i will smile again like i am today