i am a Spidey red Pontiac
the ceiling is falling in and the doors are broken
(that you pry open anyway
but only because i want you to)

you ask me with your eyelashes
why i don't put thumbtacks into the parts of me that droop and sag along the interior

and the heater whines softly,
smoke spilling in from a mangled motor
because i ask myself the same question

we are cramped, you and i
the stuffing seeping out of the back seat,
the mangled box spring hearts dangling from our chests like metal slinkies that can't find the floor
because we've swallowed one too many books
and seen each other barefoot once too few
but we are happy, you and i
we find amusement in red sweaters and pull Pokemon from Abe's old hat

i wouldn't pass the safety inspection for your soul
(but you drive me anyway)

Really mean bullies are like slinkies
Not good for much
but they bring a smile to people's faces
...when pushed down the stairs
Some truly unkind people
who hurt others to build themselves up
are pretty much still alive
Only because
It is illegal to **** them
But you know what?
Maybe that is just because they need a high five
...in the face...
...with a brick.

I did not come with an instruction
Like a box that says,
"Fragile, handle with care."

Most of the time,
I am quiet and alone with my thoughts.
Sometimes, I am louder than the trucks honking in the freeway.

I am the calm in the middle of chaos.
I am also the storm itself.
I like logic,
But live to defy it.

My stories may not be all rainbow slinkies and polly pockets,
But I know,
I am made of miracles and chilly Sunday mornings.

Young man
Words tumble out of your mouth,
sloppily,
Please, show some restraint

The bitter gave birth
to budding trees and
now I’ve come to know
the color of anguish.

Oh,how now,it tastes so shiny,
like iron, 100 shades of silver
Your lips are burning like a shell.
but I simply cannot fill you.

Love, you already know this,
I suppose this is why,
in your mind’s eye,
You see me folding neatly into your box.

Don’t bend me,
I won’t break.
Springboards or slinkies,
The bounce will bruise your baby-face.

Teeth, flesh, scars and pupils,
You expand and gasp for air,
feeding the fire.
I fear it may engulf you entirely.

I have no roots.
Clip my feathers,
Cover my eyes.
I could salt your garden.

Have you ever seen glass shatter ?

You’re stepping over me,
head fixed towards the sky.
All while staring straight through my skull,
and telling me I’m beautiful

But you won’t even look at me

You were late.
So late that I had given up on you
but when I first saw you extinguishing a smoke in the struggling grass
I knew it was you
and I called your name
and this was my first glimpse of you,
fumbling to hide your vices,
hair springing around your face
like a thousand little Slinkies
yearning to get free.

You were late.
So late that I had given up on you
on the 7th floor of a hospital,
my first hospital,
we sat outside and fumbled with our vices
and you told me it was over,
two kids ****** into the murky pond of
ADULT ISSUES,
neither one of us did our job very well
and all my fellow patients kept telling me how pretty you were that night.

You were late.
At 21 you were too late to save me
but I never gave up on you.
Forgiveness is an unfaithful mistress
and I look back and sigh,
remembering the ease with which I hated you.

You are late.
I am still waiting.
I am waiting.