IV.
you say you are a lighthouse
with no light, an empty tower
which offers no solace;
just exists.

if only you knew that your
light burns brightest of all.

--

you quote elliott smith
like christians quote jesus.
it throws me every time.
for a second, i think
they are your words and
try to make sense of them
before i realize it's just a song.

--

thinking of excuses to stand in
the hallway where i know
you'll see me is my new
favorite game.

--

i first saw you on a stage,
orange crepe paper hung
behind your dark frame.

i remember comparing you
to a bird with an injured wing;
beautiful, broken, hopeless.

you are still beautiful
and still broken.
what you choose to do with
this information decides whether
or not you will be undone.

--

i want to sew you to my
side so you'll be with me
always, just like you said
in the parking lot, a
cigarette between your
pale, spidery fingers.

--

our stolen moments are
what i live for.
we should be learning,
and we are
but instead of textbooks,
we study each other.

which is a poetic way of
saying we need to start
skipping class again.

--

(every time you escape
through drugs, i wish
you would escape through
me instead.

i would say something,
but i'm terrified you'll say
i'm not a good enough high
to make the switch.)