i'd write you letters
ten words
at a time
but

would you even like
reading ten honest words
from me?

they told me
"never fall in love with a bad boy."

what they didn't tell me
was that bad boys
are not boys with scars
that have no stories.

they are not boys
with split bones,
stretched shadows,
black irises, and blacker bruises.

bad boys are the ones who
stitch together their words,
silk spider webs,
wrapping you up,
just like he did in his arms.

they are not boys who hide their faces,
and spill smoke from thin lips.

bad boys are the ones who
fill your hungry cries
with red wine and black waters,
dragging you down,
just like he did with his words.

they told me
"never fall in love with a bad boy."

but I did.

You have managed to seep so deeply
into my skin,
my heart,
my mind,
that every time I wish to find my words;
wish to write something meaningful,
something beautiful
you are all I see

and so the words become a feeble attempt at your description
as my heart so desperately tries to put adjectives to feelings
and I end up sounding
like some love-struck, sappy, amateur poet
that knows nothing but you
which isn't true

I know lots

Every night
When we're whispering in bed
You get sleepy
And ask if I don't mind you drifting off
And I know you'd stay up if I said I did

And every night
When I say I don't mind
You say goodnight
And call me your prince
Then I say sweet dreams and hold your hand

Every morning
I wake up
Kiss your head and make you coffee
And you wake up to me saying "I love you"
Then you drag me into the kitchen where we make breakfast

And every morning
I make a mess of our ingredients
Because I'm distracted by your eyes and I'm a terrible cook
And you laugh at me, then burn the scrambled eggs
And I still love you anyway

Even though the eggs are my favorite

on nights i cannot sleep
i blame it all on you
i let myself think back
to the very first day we met
and starting there, i fold
each day like the layers of an
accordian until i convince myself
that every note of yours
has affected every one of
mine,
and though yours will always be sweet
mine are now and forever off-key.

The sky is red
The Earth is flat
Life is eternal
I am over you