I set myself on fire

and all I got were ashes.

All the bad poetry 

in the world

won't save us.

In Passing

Kissing me on the cheek
I heard you say,
"I love you."
I then said it to you
because it is true.
You squeezed tightly
and I did not mind
the air escaping
from my lungs.
I inhaled as deeply
as your arms would allow,
you have not changed,
nor I. It is as if we are
encased in amber
until reunited.
Doe-eyed girl,
we are destined
for a lifetime
of passing embraces
and memories
of what could have been.

The Flood

The valley floods suddenly

as my mind wonders

about the lips I will miss

My feet running

without thought

Panic overtakes

everyone

The sun hides

its face

A cold chill

A deep breath

of water

Mileage

A pair of handprints pressed into the glass
on the passenger side of the car-
smeared ever slightly,
a handmade Valentine's Day card faded
in a rarely touched nook,
a polaroid picture slipped between
scraped and scuffed cds,
accumulated ash and dirt
from driving miles
and miles with the windows
rolled down,
my youth draining
into the climbing numbers
of the odometer.
A car as weathered
as my mind.
It carries on as though
the check engine light
hasn't been staring at me
the last fifteen-thousand miles.

Quote Me On This

I don't need to live forever
as long as I live on in 
the hearts of those I loved.

Endless Ocean

Support the art you love.

that which feeds

Fluttering ash paints the sky
in smudges of orange
smearing together.

Uneasy silence pierced by
the steady arrival
of airplanes overhead.

There is a distance being
bridged as brush is consumed
and hills are blackened

by a relentless hunger
that knows no reason.

What cat?
What cradle?

Jawbreaker

Your mix cd sat on my desk

collecting dust

with other castoff children

whose voices

I didn't wish to hear

Your handwriting adorns

the spine facing me

reminding me how much

I loved seeing your writing

on the page

You were positive 

I would love the band

You picked through

their slender discography

It is playing now

all these years later

What were you saying

to me  if anything at all

through those songs

Not sure it matters

anymore  Listening

I know you were right

It took me too long

to realize it

flicker

I am boring
and bored.
I live easily,
without worry,
without risk,
with comfort
because
there is nothing
worth being
bothered about
outside.
It is quiet here,
my thoughts
are shadows
curved
against
my inner walls,
but where
is that light
coming from?

Digital Winter

For starters...

Let's sleep in late and stay home all day
because there is so much to do
and I don't want to have to decide
where to go and what to do.

Let's have breakfast in the backyard
by the lemon tree while we eat waffles
covered in syrup and butter. We'd have
no use for cutlery.

Let's drive to the beach on a Monday
afternoon with no one around. We'd
laugh at everyone at work, believing
ourselves to posses a secret happiness.

Let's listen to records all night, reveling
in each pop and hiss before sound
elevates consciousness into altered
perception, radiates from ear to skin.

Let's sit in silence, but there is still the
sound of our breathing, the primal pulse
that perpetuates experience, enables
a subjective experience of brief existence.

Crossing

Her small hand fit easily into her father's as they crossed the street.

He held a twelve pack of beer in his right.

Her mother carried the groceries.

The light turned green as they set foot on the sidewalk.

It was the first day of the new year.