You, the first, were totally wrong for me
But I couldn't resist falling madly in love with you.
We both knew we wouldn't last, you were sweet about it
But I made myself feel totally used by you.
What we had was pure meaningless passion
But as fun as it was, it meant I had those creeping feelings of worthlessness.
When we fought, I felt like my world was crashing down
But when we made up, I felt like you built it back up again.
You finally left me on a hot day in May
But I console myself with the fact that it was inevitable.

You, the current, are kind and genuine
But I rarely get to see that because I rarely get to see you.
We're such similar beings except you are a good person
But that's what made me love you.
I envy you your sense of compassion that radiates through your skin
But the fact that you project it on to me, gives me a sense of worth.
We share some fun-filled days and intimate nights
But I have to cherish every one of them as I never know when the next will be.
And who knows where this relationship will go
But I do know that you bring out the best in me, and I don't want to bring you down.

And I realise these men are polar opposites.
One made me feel better than him.
One makes me feel better because of him.
They may not always be in my heart,
But they will always be in my head.

is that the people who
don’t know where
their lives are going
are the only ones worth
being around and that
i should take my poetry
the same way i take my
coffee: strong and cheap
and wherever i can,
however it comes.
what i learned this semester
is that if you don’t get lost
it doesn’t count as an
adventure and if she
doesn’t gasp over the
skyline she isn’t worth
your bus money.
what i learned this semester
is how to find the best stories
where no one else looks;
in the people who sleep
under street lamps and
push their lives around
in shopping carts
and that once their words
hit, everything around you
turns to either promise
or poison.
what i learned this semester,
more than any formula or
literary device,
is that there’s a life here
waiting for me. i will remember
what reality feels like.

when it feels like the subway tunnels
are caving in around you and
i’m not there to clear the rubble
remember how the light
reflects off my skin no matter
where the sun is.
the thing about the patterns
in the sky is that they’re not there
to please the floating lovers
who know they’ve got the atmosphere
trapped inside the space between
their palms. the sky is there
when all you see are concrete walls.
the atmosphere is blowing through
your hair and rushing through
your veins whether the lovers are
puzzle piece close or hemisphere far.
with all the soulstuff winding through us
i swear you can pretend
i’m the sky — boundless past the
tunnels, past everything that’s
smothering you.
together we can merge entire oceans.

"without _, neither love
nor lovers can survive."
the answer was money,
but i think it should be
the wide-eyed gasps
that come right after
stay-here-forever kisses,
or the foggy half-second
of sprinting through a sun-
drenched forest in between
waking up and realizing
i’m in your arms.
the bills and coins can
sprout wings and fly away —
there’s no such thing as homeless
as long as you’re around.

I've been wondering.
When did i become so cynical?
I used to be the definition of an optimist.
I don't want to lose it
But it's hard to maintain
Such a sunny disposition
When most people just want rain.
I mean really?
What's the point?
I feel like I've explored every in
Every out
Every and any explanation
I could get my mind around
When the truth of it is
Your life *****.
Therefore my life must also ****
And if it doesn't
You'll see to it that,
While you're around,
It does.
Or could it be
That because I'm part of the lower lower class
I'm somehow subhuman?
Because I make you fat food
For your FAT FACE
I'm lesser than you?
Really?
I'm trying so hard
To not turn out like you.
But, to be honest,
You people are wearing me thin.
I'm not sure how much I can take
Before I rip apart
And blow away with the wind.

the day i became a man
was not when i started growing hair on my face,
(though, you can never go wrong with a plentiful beard)
was not when i kissed a girl for the first time
(sad attempts at beards make for even more sad attempts at first kisses)
was not when i got a car
(never happened)
was not when i bought a house
(hasn't happened either)
nor the day i have a kid
(although it will significantly increase my manhood levels)
nor the day i start my career and begin making buttloads of money
(never going to happen)
it most definitely wasn't when i decided to bottle my feelings up,
because men don't show feeling
(this poor guy is cursed with emotions that make decisions for themselves)

no, the day i became a man
was when i realized that i had something to offer the world
it was when i realized that i'm not on this earth to take
and be selfish
or to get famous
or make lots of money
or be successful
no, my badge of manhood was earned when i came to the conclusion
that i don't need your ****** versions of what a man really is
to understand
who this man
really is

it was earned when i
stopped
trying
to earn it
and decided
to start learning
and caring
and loving
the responsibility of a mortgage is not on my shoulders
the responsibility of the world is
(and there's no other way i would rather have it)