sometimes I have to whisper
tiny words into my pillow
the words I need to hear
you are loved
you'll be okay
breathe

they don't stay
they crawl from my pillow onto my skin
then more words must be said
don't scratch

I can't tear the words from my skin
they will leave
unlike the words I don't say
the words I need to be make me better leave
but the words that make me worse stay

An ugly little girl
in an ugly little  world
Raises a fist to the sky
As the rain ignites
On the face of the last dead leaf
Burning it to a crunch
As it falls from the vine
That circles the bars
In the prison of her mind

Roses are red
Violets aren't blue
This is a Valentine's
Poem for you

Your subtle smiles
Your sound advice
I can't find anything
To say about your eyes

Your love for books
Your fondness for novelty
At the top of my mind
Is your streak of spontaneity

How you know when to speak
How you shamelessly stare
How like the wandering wind
You're neither here nor there

I like your propriety
And your occasional cheek
Not to mention my dear
You're just as much of a geek

The way you cheer
At the scoring a goal
The way you cheer
At the end of a play
The fact that both cheers
Are cheered the same way

How your fingers dance
Upon any sturdy surface
How you predict the song
That's been left in my head
How when I look at you
"All the world drops dead".

This one is for him
who does not yet exist
I wonder if you realised
This was a sly sort of list

If the poem fits
Then what more can I say
But my love, my light
Happy Valentine's Day.

I have built a statue
A monument for old.
Your name engraved by hand
In bold, in brazen gold.

I have named a building
After the way you say 'We're free'.
With a plaque to tell the whole wide world
The life you've painted for me.

I have paved a winding road
And branded it for two.
With slopes and loops and bridges to the sky
I hope it leads me back to you.

I have created a universe that never was
In honour of you and me.
Uncharted, unmarked, it's up in my head.
Only for us to see.

Open you eyes and see
Open you mind and be free
Don't hesitate to be
Don't use your words against me

I won't speak no evil
I won't hear your tainted lies
I won't be the one you see inside your mind

Because I've seen strangers
With no place left to hide
If you can't free yourself its your demise

You can try to change the world,
but you won't succeed, I'm sure you'll find
You'll redefine the life you lead,
and then you'll see, that was all we needed

Now I've been jaded,
and I've been broken down
and I know how it feels to be left out

So please for my sake,
remember this one line:
that we're all strangers, and then we die

You can try to change the world,
but you won't succeed, I'm sure you'll find
You redefine the life you lead,
and then you'll see, that was all we needed

Campus twilight chases the pinkest of airplanes
Across sunset pinched sky
February is making up its mind to March
I am making up my mind to loneliness
I will put the college age feminist cuff in my Levis
And swear you off
Swear you into oblivion
Kissing off this dusky breeze
Jump into liquid night
The 10 minute homeward stride
To lighted windows
Uphill to age 20

We could all shed tears
For a 17th year beating a hasty retreat
But we don’t
We’ll pillage the future
Before it even cracks a smile
Such are the years of inbetween