maybe the secret to their love was that they didn't know they were in love

I fall in love
with bits of people,
rarely a whole person.
Like crooked smiles on subway stations
or untied shoelaces
or favorite books
or eyes that look like blinking galaxies--
I see the puzzle laid at my feet,
your collarbones, your self-hatred, your bitten down fingernails, your detachment, the wars of your mind, the curve of your spine, the way you scrawl your name with indifference--
All these broken fragments that
shatter and surround me
like the wine glass I dropped,
Shards of glass,
your eyes
reflect me
the deep blood red wine
Drops like crystalline desire--
I might romanticize your flaws
and I might make walls of disillusionment,
but I swear I'll love you like you're whole.

It's 12 AM and my brother is playing guitar,
And wishing that his ex was still his girlfriend.

It's 12 AM and I'm writing this poem,
thanking God that she is not longer his burden.

Sometimes the world works in odd ways,
And the people around us see clearer than we do.

This is what my brother is experiencing for the first time,
Because he is heart broken and I have never been happier for him.

God is upstairs pulling the strings,
Knowing us better than we can ever hope to know ourselves.

And we should take every big change as a message
From above that we need to venture down another path.

Because sometimes happiness and bliss
Are in the last place we would ever look ourselves.

It's 12 AM and I am thanking the world for saving my brother
Even though he does not know it yet.

Write. Write until your hand hurt and your brain gives out. This is what makes you happy.

2. When you're 18, a boy is going to kiss you for the very first time, and you're not gonna like it. This is because he is not the right one for you.

3. It's okay to watch 5 episodes of a TV show in one day. These are the days that you will never remember, but they are also the days that will keep you sane.

4. That girl you call your best friend; she's going to betray you. And it is your choice to forgive her or not.

5. Your real best friend is your brother, because he has always had your back, and you will always have his.

6. No matter how sad and lonely and worthless you feel, none of the bad things you think are true. You are worth more than the bad days.

7. Your high school graduation will not be what you want it to be. And you will never be okay with that. But it's okay to not be okay with the way the world works sometimes.

8. The friends you make in your first semester of college will outweigh 90% of the people you have met up until then, and that it absolutely okay.

9. Your mom is better than you have ever given her credit for, and you will realize this more and more each year.

10. Wait for him. Wait for the guy that will sweep you off your feet from the very first glance. Do not settle. Ever.

i wonder if it's true that people fall in love in the weirdest ways

because i have imagined you falling in love with me too many ways to count

and each one has a different story and a different scenario

none of which will ever happen

but i keep imagining it because i know how much i could love you

and i know how perfect we could be if you would just follow my script

but then i think about how real love doesn't have to be forced

it just happens

so maybe one day you'll see me and you'll realize

that no one will ever be more perfect for you then me

and then maybe i'll believe that love happens every day

rather than just in the stories and poems i write about you