I could love you
as dry roots love rain.
I could hold you
as branches in the wind
brandish petals.
Forgive me for speaking so soon.

    Let your heart look
    on white sea spray
    and be lonely.

    Love is a fool star.

    You and a ring of stars
    may mention my name
    and then forget me.

    Love is a fool star.

My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of
     universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I
     reach my hands and play with pebbles of
     destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs
     reading "Keep Off."

My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive
     in the universe.

When I carefully consider the curious habits of dogs
I am compelled to conclude
That man is the superior animal.

When I consider the curious habits of man
I confess, my friend, I am puzzled.

i think i'm going to break./
i'm so ******* sorry.

nothing makes sense right now and i'm scared
and i don't trust myself and god i'm sorry.

i shouldn't have brought you into this
and i don't know how many times i
can apologize-
but i'm so freaking sorry,

my heart is always yours.
i love you.

i just want to be the person you write poetry about.
not even good poetry.
the poetry of 1 AM text messages
that try to spell out love in sloppy metaphors about stars and eyes
the poetry that swells up in your throat while you're tired so when you speak it into my voice mail it's just "you're so beautiful and wow i'm so in love with you"
the poetry of rearranged letter magnets on the refrigerator
the poetry of small notes in jackets,
half rhymed abandoned words you scribble out between classes and forget in your backpack.
i want to be the person you spend hours scratching your head, tugging at your hair
trying to frame "you're so amazing and i'm waiting for you to realize i think you're so special" into beautiful flowing words.
i'm just saying
write me poetry and i will dance
like dust on your tabletops
glimmering in the light of the sun

i watched a boy turn into sound waves. his blue eyes made my heart catch in my throat and the way his hands danced among black and white keys made me ache to become a beautiful melody.

i watched a boy become a beacon, illuminating the world with a smile i didn't know could exist, i know now why the sun is so bright, it's in competition with his heavenly glow.

i watched a boy fall back to earth at 6,000 miles per hour head first into a crowd rush. he never looked back. never hesitated. and the trust he had in those people was enough to make me cry.

are all these
words
said for
you

you are the moon
shining valiantly to illuminate
the dark, starry sky

you are the wind
that brushes through my hair
and catches a hold of
my hand

you are the fleeting smile
I caught
on someone hurting
but alive

you are strength
and loving kindness when
I could not think anymore

your existence
is exciting; you
matter

and every word
of yours
is someone's
lovely poetry

are all these
words
said for
you

it is a lie

when mothers whisper
"he hurts you because he likes you"

it is a lie

when fathers say
"boys will be boys"

it is a lie

when boys holler
"i am entitled to you because i like you"

it is a lie
when love means you give yourself up
when love comes with physical pain
when love leaves you feeling more empty than full

i am the truth
i am the inevitable
i am the past
the present
and future
i am teenage rebellion in your shirt pocket
i am the note you give to your love
i am the begging of you to come back
i am the door slamming in your face
i am the product of the very life that started on this earth and
i am unknown poetry scribbled on the stall of a ******* school bathroom
begging to be read
begging to be understood

i am all and i am nothing

i just,
am