Give me your hand
my forbidden one
Let me lead you to the darkest corner
where our truth can come to light
Because that's the only place
we can exist -
in between the spaces of words
always left unsaid
Where you're not afraid
to show me your soul
And I'm not afraid
to let you take a step closer
But the flame can't burn for long
Because we both know
when morning comes
we'll play pretend
The whispers of the dark
will lay forgotten
Because in our world
of unfinished sentences,
where more often than not
there is a coma where a full stop should be;
"U" and "I" will never be
side by side.

i don't watch home movies
hate them
reason being because
when i was young
i was looking for a movie
my mother
had recorded for me
and accidentally
put one in the vcr
that i'm not sure
i was supposed to see
i know the obvious response
"uh oh, ****"
sorry to disappoint
they were only marked with dates
  1991
on live television
montel williams asks my father
"how can you just throw
your child away like a piece of trash?"
   1994
i spend so much time
in the emergency room
that my parents stop
penciling in growth marks
on the frame
of my bedroom door
i always thought
it was because they believed
i would never grow out
of this sickness
sometimes i believe
the reason that they
never bought me a dream catcher
was because they never thought
i'd live long enough
to see them come true
   1996
i am eliminated
from a spelling bee
because i didn't know
the 'dad' is silent in 'family'
   2013
before i got into poetry
i used to do standup
none of my jokes were funny
one of the other comics
tells me my skits are dry
sometimes sad
he says "why don't you joke
about something like your family?"
so i say
"i never wore any sunblock
because i didn't want anything
to keep me from my father"
i say "what do you call christmas
without lights or heat?"
before he has a chance
to answer
i say "1997. better yet
why don't you
make like a dad and
leave"
   2014
every time we drive
past the hospital
my mother reminds me
how much it cost to save my life
like she'd rather
have her money back
she doesn't have to say
that sometimes she wishes
it was me who had died
instead of my brother
i can hear it in the way
she says "love you"
sometimes i imagine
that if i were to die
that she
would pick out a casket for a child
because she never loved
the person i became
yesterday i told my father
how close i'd been
to suicide lately
and he said
"that's my boy,
livin on the edge.."
and i can't remember
if i laughed
or cried

Night kisses on the roof,
We're drinking up the view
Please fill my glass with a million more stars..
So I can find the courage to spill out the truth..

Long ago I was in love,
Well that's what I thought it was..
5 years is a long time to know a person,
And 5 words was all it took to break that off

So, "how did it all fall apart?" You ask.. And, "Was the fall worth the hurt?"
I'd give 3/4 of my heart for, just a quarter of hers..

But that was a very long time ago,
So let's move this along..

My first year at college ******,
I never thought I'd amount to much
11 months is a long time to care for someone,
Even when those last few months,
We fell out of touch..
But with this girl I felt so safe..
Brown hair green eyes cute face
I said goodbye 2 nights after my 18th birthday,
.. I thought this time my heart deserved a different kind of break

"... So how did it all fall apart?" You ask, "do you still care/ love her?"
I'd give 3/4 of my heart for, just 1/4 of hers..

But i'm not on the rooftop with her, right now..
Oh i'm with you,
And this is where we are..
Singing the blues..

When that sun rises over you
Won't you tell me your stories too?
I'll give both halves of my heart if..
You give me all yours too.