D r i f t w o o d -- 21 April 2017

It’s like you don’t know what to say to me anymore

So all you say is “I love you”

And hope that’s enough to satisfy

But who ever told you love wasn’t supposed to hurt?

Because love has always been messy and hard and imperfect

And growing up shouldn’t mean growing cold

So maybe start trying to love me

Instead of just saying you do

Regret -- 14 April 2017

I came 3 times

And each one is tinged with regret

You played my body perfectly

The songs pulled from me will never be sung again

Maybe next time my melodies will be happier

Fissures -- 22 March 2017

I heard you tried to find me in someone else
You want to be loved so badly
That you can't recognize when you have it
So instead you fumble around in the dark
Looking for me between someone else's silk sheets
The way you break your own heart is so debilitating
Because half of the time you don't even know what you're breaking
And even God asks himself why
And shakes his head in disbelief

People Aren't Homes - 18 February 2016

You said that your love was mine

So I built my home in you

Your ribs, like walls, were sturdy

Well-built, protective, and full

Your heart, like a hearth, glowed

And kept me warm and secure

Your eyes, like windows, painted pictures

Of what I thought I could have

Your voice, like belonging, sang songs

That made me feel like I finally found a place

Your arms were like coming home

They gave me a place to rest

But I now know why they say

That you shouldn’t build your home in a person

Because now it seems my house is burning down

Your hands tore everything apart

Brick by brick, bone by bone

Until all that was left was the rubble and me

You Move Mountains -- 16 November 2015

I just want you to touch me like you mean it

I need to know what’s real and what’s not

Don’t lie to me, or tell me what I want to hear

I’m so afraid that I’ll crumble with your touch

Because you move mountains

But you also crush people

You’ve got a one-track mind

And I’m afraid to be the price you pay for ambition

Maybe someday I’ll get a happy ending

Instead of another lesson in bad intuition

Shards -- 16 November 2015

Just because I see the stars in your eyes
And you glow like the sun

Doesn’t make the world revolve around you

Your voice may be melodic

And you look like the love child of the universe

I know that I can say lovely things

And I know how to turn a phrase

But never romanticize your lovers

It’s a long fall from the pedestal

And nothing hurts worse than the shards of your own poetry

Kissed into skin turn to broken promises in your mouth

These are the things I wish I learned sooner

Because if I did

I wouldn’t have shattered you

And left myself with scars

Spun Sugar -- 1 August 2015

I can taste the distance in your kiss
And feel the discontent in your fingertips
Never thought love to be as fickle as the breeze
Seems like I have so much I don't know
You always said that I was spun sugar
Held together by questions and surgical tape
But before you always said it with a semblance of a smile
I was always afraid you'd leave me for something solid
Now I'm afraid you'll leave me for nothing at all

You Were Always Supposed To Be A Warning -- 2 May 2015

You were always supposed to be a warning
A wildfire can never hold the ocean
But you make me want to try

I was told that love can be so destructive
The kind of force that rots and levels cities
Leaving only deteriorated carcasses of what used to be

My mother brought me to several such cities
Places where she thought no hope could dwell
But I never heeded any advice she gave

I felt no dysphoria in these lonely, forgotten places
Any warnings from my mother have faded in my head
I was too busy archiving architecture and dreaming

You were always supposed to be a warning
There can be beauty to be found in the aftermath of chaos
Even if I'm the only one to see it

Expensive Bruise -- 15 April 2015

All my observations may be sarcasm-based
But all you've ever been was an expensive bruise
We both still have so many things to learn
Like how to stop being so miserable all the time
For sharp tongues and biting words do not a relationship make
You know what to say to leave me reeling
And I know how to cut you to the quick
No one ever taught you how to compromise
No one taught me how to please
So we fight with words instead of fists
My pride will be the crime scene
Your mouth will be the smoking gun
The worst part is that I'll kiss away the smoke
And no one has to know what happens behind closed doors

Astral Projection And Mutual Affection -- 24 March 2015

Constellations dance and decorate your body
From your hands to your face
And everywhere in between
You reflect galaxies in your eyes
Asteroids and comets orbit your path
You are the northern lights and the Milky Way
And the ever expanding universe
If you are all the stars then I am a black hole
Ever collapsing and self destructive
To the point of leaving nothing in my wake
I'll consume everything you are if given the chance
So stay awake, save yourself
We both know this is going to end with you broken and me empty

Pillow-Talk -- 20 February 2015

Death sure is lively pillow-talk
Nose to nose under the covers
Whispering words of comfort and reassurance
Anything to make us feel bigger than we are
That our attempts at living aren't the futile efforts
Of an insignificant and dying species
Cold feet sparking the need to be even closer
Sharing heat in any way we can
Nothing is ever certain
I don't think we'll ever meet again
In this life or the next
Or any place in between
It is merely enough that I met you once
That we found each other in such a busy world
The universe is vast and open and explosively silent
We know so much and yet so little
The chances of meeting were so slim
And yet I saw you and you saw me
It was wonderful and joyous and warm
Like chasing fireflies in July

Girls Are Allowed Dark Thoughts -- 12 February 2015

That girl is a bad thing
She won't eat your heart out
She won't even steal it
Since she doesn't want it in the first place
She won't outright kill you
Not if it makes her hands dirty
But she just might slit your throat
With words like shards of glass
She just might feed you happiness
That turns to lies and ash in your mouth
She just might sell you romance
To find out she sold you Satan instead
She just might get you addicted to her perfume
Only for it to choke and burn your lungs
She just might whisper sugary sweet nothings
That rot your teeth and leave you hollow
She just might make you think she's a princess
But a princess becomes a queen
And there's a reason
The queen is the most powerful piece in chess
That girl is a bad thing
Just don't ever tell him
He deserves the hell she'll put him through

Dark Rooms

Falling in love is like a photography dark room. At first you’re lost, in the dark, scared and disoriented. Then slowly, your eyes adjust and you begin to see things you didn’t before. Things aren’t scary anymore. The smell of the chemicals becomes a part of your skin, just as there can’t be a me without you. But the best part is how everything that scared you can create such beautiful things.