Your Name

Stolen from my lips twisting and turning Each syllable stretched across a moment I've surrendered myself to this fascination For a ghoul, like myself it's commonplace for me to lose myself, now and again While there's no means for atonement No needed defense Simply, there's nothing to say Other than, I am desperately hollow Until August begins anew

No matter, I am cemented to an eternity Of cerulean-colored footnotes Of manufactured optimism Of ill-starred searching crowded in between avenues brimming with strangers Just maybe, momentarily, I'll catch sight of the iridescence stowed away in the letters of your name

Pt. 1, Showpiece

passing through the days you are close at hand within these twisting corridors

stuck onto me a fixed realization i came to, twenty-three years ago i remember you are— only a room away my, my, my wonderous showpiece tell me your secrets sway to the moonlight take in these extraordinary sights and sounds my world has dulled in your presence forward I go till I am close enough to admire you you—in all your perfection and grace

a pleasant reminder of luster and stillness

i've wound and caught myself on your shape, once again

this proximity is potent for when the minute strikes the hour your silhouette draped in twilight is a stone cold familiarity

i'd wander endlessly wait within these desecrated walls once known properly in grandeur for when you finally come to life come for me here, I will be

Darling, let me introduce you to: A boy found along mirrored dance floors overflowing and flushed to the cheeks caught in displays of dallying A crimson guitar roped under his arm He's got a non-sequential touch withdrawn of sentiment Paired with a nice t-shirt (wrinkle-free, I might add) Did I mention, he's got a funny way of speaking and an offbeat canny sense? Chucks smashed and shook to the sole for the past twenty-five years How many times has his likeness been left to the imagination? There is a tenderness only known in his fingertips Pressed against an insatiable tenacity I am withdrawn to this emotion To this touch— In-sequentially, I know this leads to an unknown world found in that stare Softly, honeycomb eyes, might you relay me these words before the show starts? I know— (while he's got the wrong end of his cigarette lit) there are worse things than a *****

Dreams of California, call to me Stretched across dusk an endless array of vineyards arbitrary in their formation completely bore me I am reminded of your cruelty Where you told me from the safety of your fortress: You have no interest in what I wrote I should move on I was hoping you would get the hint Spoken scripture, burned into every part of skin Every hint seeped in, poisonous to the touch Go ahead, hide behind your falsified tales Crawl away and escape while you can Run for the vineyards (boys and girls) Until the sun can't touch you I held myself together with nightmares turning in coffins But, I loved you, in unexplainable ways That is my satisfaction

You should have known I would cement this into my very being Still, this ghost town calls to me My name, barely a whisper That is your satisfaction

With pavement pushing us forward We fell to the rhythm Face first, here, I am Somewhere in Western Europe playing a game of musical chairs, sipping on a shit gin & tonic

A foreign melody your voice is a summer tease Even if you refuse to sing along I fell to the rhythm When you're near my mornings harmonize to your afternoons Don't mind me slightly off-balanced and weak at the knees My favorite part of the chorus has come on

You

This is not a love poem This is a lower-cased fleeting desire made possible by distance

A thousand other girls and me Scream to this song But let me set the fucking stage:

Again, this is not a love poem But whatever, makes the heart grow fonder

The clocks strikes midnight Suddenly, everything I knew has changed January has become a month devoid of tenderness

Your goofy smile, especially iridescent at half-light (my constant reassurance) Is nothing other than old news

Princesses and Princes only exist in fairytales There's no glass slipper left behind Magic eventually becomes counterfeit

Still, I hope we can meet again Somewhere in the city This everlasting, overshadowing sadness will eventually fade

I will see your smile again

Maestro,

I tuned myself to all the right harmonies

I let this symphony become my life

My heartbeat, an instrument, of melancholy

And while the crowd begged for an encore

You left me during intermission

To please a crowd room of strangers

I'll continue to sway to the beat

Led us into the ending credits

To find out that the boy and girl don't end up together

What a nightmare!

My arms outstretched, I'll bring us higher

Til the beat drops

Maestro,

When these hallways empty

And the music that flooded aloof ears stills

My heartbeat will continue to be an instrument that sings for you

How many words would it take to build your portrait? Ink wrapped around your skin (what a sight!) How many syllables would it take to know your silhouette? If you'd prefer A blushing silence (I shouldn't stare) I can give you that