He lay in that hospital bed like it was already his tomb.
Hardly breathing,
Hardly moving, save for the wisps of hair that some overhead fan
Would occasionally raise with more life than he had left.
His eyes stayed closed, as if deep in sleep
Until I, passing by, was draw to his bed.
Then, they opened.

And this man with scarcely the strength left to blink
Smiled,
More with his eyes than his mouth.
More with his soul than with his body.
He held my gaze within crystal blue eyes
That had become deep oceans
With all they had seen.

A single moment lasted an eternity as I swam in deep blue.
Searching for some sort of truth that I knew not whether I would find.
When I returned, I wasn't sure if I had gained something
Or left something behind.
Then the infinite eyes released a final breath
Then left, somehow, as if they had simply been taking a quick stop
Inside of the man.

And he returned to his bed, his tomb,
And I stayed one more moment before turning to walk again down the hall
On my way to more pressing things.

I want a girl who'll sit with me and stare at the sunset.
But not because it's pretty or colorful,
But just because she hasn't discovered yet
What it all must mean
For us to be looking at it when we all just seem
So insignificant. So small. So young and old,
And out of time.
But lost in time.
And one day, forgotten, with time.
I want a girl who stays up late.
Because she doesn't like that she can't control sleep.
But she'll get mad at me when I do the same.
Because she'll know that to have no dreams
Would be a shame.
And to never lose control
Would be like having no soul.

We reach and we try
To cage an infinite existence.
But what good is that?
Where do we grow,
When we sacrifice real beauty,
For a bit of control?
All of this, the girl I want will know.
And that's why, one day, I know she'll go.
I want a girl that is wonderful as a summer rain,
But just as fleeting.
She will come, sending shivers and leaving goosebumps.
Then she will go,
But not so quick as to forget the rainbow.
And the dew
And the scent that will linger
For much longer than the few
Moments that she was still here.
And later on, when my sun sets,
I will be, again, out of time.
And she lost in time.
Forgotten, with time.

A teddy bear hugs the dirt
Next to a dozen roses bouquetted in grass.
This is not the fate intended
By those who left these tokens of grace.
But the wind and the rain owe no mercy
To lonely headstones and their favors.
And gifts given soon whither and die
So true to their recipients they are.
Stone holds the more steady service,
Stands it's constant post,
Taking no heed of how many letters are read
Or how many tears join night sprinklers.
Choosing instead to hold vigil
Far past when the last teddy bear is left.

She has the same name as you.
And that same wild attitude too.
And that same weird way of sitting quiet
While simultaneously commanding the room.

I don't know her,
And she knows me far less,
But I feel like by the end of you and me,
We were little more than strangers at best.

If I touched her,
Would she feel like you?
Would her hair smell the way
That yours used to?
Would her kiss be familiar,
Or would it feel brand new?

A blue dress shirt
Serendipitously
Left on after a meeting.
Now again needed.
This happy coincidence
So much more forgettable
Than if I had worn jeans
To this event
Labeled "business casual."
How many blue dress shirts
Do we wear with
Sighs of relief,
Giving little thought
To happenstance
As we go about our day
Luckily avoiding
Consequence?

He smokes cigarettes
But he doesn't even like them.
Knows they're awful
And likely will one day **** him.
Buts that's why he does it
In this world we never know
He takes a puff to feel
Some semblance of control.

He walks alone at night,
And as shadows pass,
Secretly hopes for a fight.
In truth, he wouldn't know
How to throw the first punch
And he'd be easy prey
For even the commonest ****.
But part of him secretly hopes
That if he took just the right hit
It might be the perfect thing
To make him forget.

He sends letters to her,
With the wrong address.
She's moved by now,
To escape this city and it's mess.
But the letters never return.
So someone reads them, he thinks.
Maybe it's that he only yearns
To be heard.
So he writes as if she reads,
And it helps him live on.
Still, a letter opened
Does not replace a heart, once gone.

Lips find lips,
Eyes close.
For a kiss unseen
Is sweeter, she knows.

Bodies lock,
Fully intertwined.
Like the last puzzle piece
You hoped to find.

But this spark was
Far less expected.
And for that, leaves me
So much more affected.

There is a chemistry
That reacts with contact,
Somehow unbeknownst to me,
But now, volatile fact.

Breathe out, together,
Scarcely breathing in
Before returning to that small
Paradise where we've been.

There is no world there,
No one else exists.
We've made our own universe
Inside a stolen kiss.