Write me a poem that makes my cheeks burn
So that my only concern is how the world knows
all the ways you can tell me you hate me

Read me the lines of venom you spit when you speak
Because who cares about the tears that stain my skin?
My cheeks are a masterpiece of old emotion

But who cares?
When the words you write make people feel alive
They don't have time to ponder over my sarrow

I want to try and understand how you think
Why my voice grates your ears
Why my face conjures red infront of your eyes
Until you **** me with each cruel word
Your sharp edged pen now rested
My blood dripping from the tip

Write me a poem that makes me cry
All your cruelty wrapped into a small package
Written on old napkins or preformed on stage
Either way the audience claps
Or a waitress cleaning her tables at night will cry in awe

And my cheeks will burn red

I would've died for you
but don't think about it too much

don't imagine a knife in my hands
slicing away all of the parts of myself
that you decided weren't good enough for you
the parts you forgot to love

don't think about my blood
running onto your floor as you stand there
watching it and wondering
how you're going to clean it up
I'm dying on the inside
because you've stolen from me
the kind of love that is never supposed to leave

I didn't love you the way novels are written
we didn't hold hands and watch the stars
we watched the sunrise in smiles
we made memories at midnight
I never loved you with kisses or cuddling
but I loved you

so much so that I didn't need to breath
if the air in your lungs was slipping away
I would have cut myself open
and offered you my own
and I was hoping you would do the same
but I know better now

do not strain yourself on matters of my death
if i died from exposure you'd have my jacket
if I had a bullet in my heart I jumped in front of you
I would have

because the past no longer will influence my future
I will not die for you anymore
for you laughed at my love
and tossed it aside

so when you lay dying from the vacancy in your chest
because when I ran I left without a word
don't think too much about it

I wish I could write poems about flowers in my lungs
Beautiful, blossoming and everything you need
But all that lived in my lungs has withered
Until I'm nothing but a cage for a carcass
Nothing is beautiful when it's dead
So I cannot write about flowers that grow between my ribs
In my stomach
My heart
Because inside of me there is no sun
There is only black

When I think of him I see bruises
Like immortalized fingerprints against skin
Only there's nothing lovely about it
They color her chest
But she never winces
Because to her that's his kind of "I Love You"

Somewhere along the road he traded hugs for hits
Picking her apart bit by bit until the clam opened
And he took her pearl
No longer did he kiss her lips unless it was to draw blood
And every time he held her waist
He left indents on her skin

She said she had nowhere else to go
But the truth was she didn't want to leave
Because every word spewed in anger
Meant one more rose to add to her collection
Apologizes were his favorite hello

Her tears were the soundtrack to his dreams
Each night a weeping tune
Flowed from her and into him
He never realized how soon he'd grow to love it
She was nothing but entertainment
How much could she be played
Before he broke her strings

She never wanted help
He never tried to withhold his ugly nature
When I see him I think of bruises
And the wonderful woman who wears them

For five seconds please think of me
When your eyes can't see anything but the bottom of the bottle
Try and see me
Feel my hands reaching out to you
When your tired eyes close but your legs still move
Plummeting towards pavement
I will catch you as you fall
When you tell me you're fine don't think I believe you
I can count the bottles missing from your bag

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Stop
Please stop

Through the haze of smoke keep looking
Don't think I won't care
Don't think you're okay
I won't hate you
I don't hate you
Please stop
Listen to my voice in your head and follow
My hands are steady
As yours are not

You say you're alright as you giggle
Flip your hair, fix your dress
You're fine
But your legs shake as if the ground quakes below you
No you're not stupid
Call me and I will come
Cry and I will comfort
Nobody will hate you as much as you will in the morning
If you do call me I will take you home
Wherever you feel safe I'll go
Stop and think
When you wake up and ache up from your feet to your head
I will be there
I am there to care, laugh and tell you you're fine
Your mistakes were made
You can't go back
But the next time you stand on the cliff's edge
Teetering Towards Trouble
Turn around and run to me

I can see your bloodshot eyes
But I don't judge
I've got a heart to sympathize with and when you realize this
You won't feel lost

There was a time I didn't worry
Then again I had no reason
Now I have 5
I'm not your angel
I'm your friend
I'm a blur after ten drinks
But I am here
Whenever you need

1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Stop
And think of me

sure I'd *******
if you want to
but conditions apply
there's a list of reasons why
you may deny my acceptance

1. turn off the lights
I feel safer under the shelter
of a night sky illusion
where your hands are guides
to the lines of my body
and you're too distracted to draw conclusions
about the fact that i gained ten pounds
it sounds like I want to hide from you
but in truth it's not you
it's the curves of my stomach
the stretch marks on my legs
only the light can reveal my disfigured shape

2. don't leave hickey's on my neck
my skin is a blank canvas
yet to be burdened with bruises
so there are no excuses
for leaving them where eyes roam
you don't have to be gentle
I don't mind coming home
and seeing your art work
but I don't want to have to explain
it will **** the beauty
when everyone can see
what somebody else could do to me

3. don't make promises you won't keep
don't decide to hold me
and tell me you love me
I accept your arms around my shoulders
I will not listen to your words
murmurs of nothing mean nothing to me
and I find it hard to believe
another girl won't fill the space
in the bed I'd once been
if it isn't forever
then let's not pretend
i'd much rather love you
and say you're a friend

4. play records in the back
I don't want to hear silence
or the sound of our movement
anything but nothing
would be an improvement
the whine of a vocalist hitting my ears
is the only thing that may keep me sane
I can never think straight
this strain on my brain can only be tamed
by the gentle noise
of Arabella in my head
If I can only hear your labored breaths
i will never feel relaxed
when I'm in your bed

5. don't do it again
I know the game
I'm willing to play
but I will not succumb twice
my heart may break the next day
when I realize your phone call
got lost in the mail
so I have to cut ties
because I'm not dumb
I mean nothing more
than any girl you had before
you see I do not pretend
that you love me
I know that tomorrow is the end
so do not ask me to come back
because I will
don't attack my heart with hope
when none remains

agree and i'll *******
if you still desire
true it seems strange
what I ask is required
I don't think it's too needy
just five simple tasks
but if it's too much
forget that I asked

Girls with round faces
And dresses cut short
cant love you the way
You've been begging
they lust and they run
With smoke in her lungs
A cigarette loose in her teeth
They drink coffee at midnight
And ***** at lunch
when they finally *******
They're numb
Their tattoos are ships
But their hearts are their anchors
Live by the ocean
the waves are their guide
They get high to pretend
They're not drunk half the time
In fairytale castles
They built out of string
They find solace in being alone
Their bodies are naked
Against white stained sheets
Lost to a haze of old smoke