Poetry

This man

With a family who loves him

But can't help him

Because he needs to help himself first

This man

Drunk on hatred for himself

For this world

"Hopeless", they all say

With their eyes

I feel like I lost all the time

I once thought I had

Looking at you

Even though you look the same

The gray of your hair

And the change of mine

Tells me time has truly passed

I am sad

sad to not have weekly meetings with you

I am nervous

nervous of what I'll be doing this weekend

I am excited

excited to show off, to show my friends and family this tradition

I am apprehensive

Our last meeting

I rehearsed my part

I read my speech

you looked on with pride

I'm proud, too

I can sing and read in a different language

from ancient scroll with no vowels that sort of smells bad

The sun didn’t kiss these boys

It hugged them

The way you would with your best friend before

Leaving for a long time

It hugged them and

It made their skin the color of a caramel

And their hair like the sand

One message 

An Instagram notification in my inbox from an unfollowed account 

I never get DMed

Opening was the worst possible choice I could've made

It was kindergarten

specifically May 4th, 2018, to be exact

we had just moved into our new house

I had been at the after-school program that day

My music collection

a small window of tunes that I appreciate

songs that loosen my ties to the ground

that free me to chase the clouds

and they may not be popular

or good party music;

they have taken her.

hope.

she is trapped in the great big house made of new money & keys

that open nothing anymore. it is named america.

you can hear her,

I am grateful.

Grateful that three no-longer-kids,
Grown-up,

Jobs-and-girlfriends-and-college boys

Are there for me

Have my back

Even though we haven’t talked for a while

Even though we live hours away

We are such a cliché,

boy meets girl,

fall hard and fast.

Our heads are a mess,

would you wait for me?

Obviously.

Too young to think anything through,

I remember that warm summer night,

we argued about who could jump farther off the swings,

we were only 14.

It down poured,

they didn't set the fireworks off,

you didn't care,

neither did I.