Oh, how nice it would be
To live supple minded fantasy,
Where subtle signals from the skies
Augment virtues of humanity;
To look upon the Gods and see
They've--relinquished all morbidity,
And as the evil within us dies
So too, the epic of tragedy.

She paints the sky with arrows
that lurch into my skin,
such departure from the heavens
blown as kisses in the wind.

When you say
"My friend and I..."

I hear
"My ex lover and I..."

I can read between
The lines
And darling you're such
An easy book to
Read.

I have gut feelings
Signals
Warnings
Of danger and excitement

And I had a gut feeling
That I was going to see
Something unpleasant.

And maybe running into
You and the ex
On the blue line train
Wasn't unpleasant

But it certainly wasn't
A welcomed surprise.

I felt my pulse stutter when I spoke of you
long before I met you, back when
I was marooned on the Island
with a bunch of sourpusses some years ago,
who told me it would have taken
a pipeline chilled on dry ice (with a faucet installed)
for all the people in Hell who want iced water,
and a meteor the size of Mauna Loa
tearing through every layer
of realistic expectations to discover you.

and that the meteor would still end up
the size of a gumball by the time
it hit the pavement, and the first drop of water
would get to the ****** warm as ****,
and they almost had me convinced,
crossing fingers and predicting meteor showers
before I learned of you by name,
swore Hell's patrons could stay parched
for all I cared, and headed west for forty-two miles
until I found you in a part of the Island
where those sore losers must've never bothered to look.

since then, I've made a list of reasons
why nothing's felt more profoundly simple
and beautiful to me than each instance
where I could have sworn your signals synced with my pulse.
and they're all worth explaining, but I've grown
more timid at twenty-two, and mostly stare
at the bottle of Magic Hat, the roof of the shed,
the scruff on your upper-lip or the creases in your shoes,
just to avoid making eye-contact
(though you don't seem to mind it.)

speaking of then, back at the shed,
when you were tapping your foot
to one of Twain's records, I was going to mention
something about how I love the sound
hard-heeled shoes make when they click against vinyl,
tile and hardwood floors, because it's soothing to me—
the same way the tone in your voice was
when you saw the Sour Belts on the candy rack,
when you thanked the gas station clerk
on the way out, told me you were having fun,
and softly brushed my hand
before you asked to borrow my lighter;
it's just a sound I adore.

though I wouldn't clarify whether I meant
the click of heels or the sound of your voice,
because I know it's going to sound silly either way,
so I speak to you in Morse code
and send the signals to myself
to remember there are things that
will always mean more than
they probably really do—

to you, to the world, to the psychic
who guaranteed simplicity and tenderness
for me when I was nineteen, and
probably laughed her way to the bank,
bought a gumball-sized rock on a silver ring,
and will be in stitches by the time she gets to Hell
to buy a round for the ******* underground
who are placing bets that I might be wrong about you,
and that I'll lose your signal soon
whether or not I want to.

Have you ever
rolled down your windows
to hear the train
as it rolls by?
Or do you keep
your music turned up,
heat on high,
and curse
impatiently?

Sometimes
I get so distracted
by all the competing
voices that I forget
to slow down
and really listen.

I find myself
looking for the approval
of people
rather than seeking
the embrace
of the One who
really matters.

His voice is soft
because He doesn't
feel the need to
showcase His
profundity.
He whispers because
He wants
a leaned-in-ear
to listen.

Someone who sees
the signal lights blinking
and who knows enough
to shut everything off,
roll the windows down,
and listen.

If a tree fell in the woods and spoke to me – I wonder if the words will mimic the ones printed in the books it turns into,
or if the wisdom will be reminiscent of its number of rings,
I lost count at 23 –
The age you were when you wanted to tie the other end of the rope around the braches,
you saw them reaching out to the sky,
a serendipitous commonplace in your eyes,
well I’m thankful that the tree came down with the storm and that you found your footing among the leaves.
                              
                                               Believe me when I say --
That I never meant to tell you to speak out of my own need to make my life better than it should be,
I just wanted to make it okay--
To let you tell the truth instead of telling only what you thought you wanted me to hear you say.
                                                  You were afraid --
That the thoughts in your head and the rings in your trees made you unfit for this world,
and that the city’s ambience would always drown out the gusts of wind at the shores of Walden.
That no distance to run would take you far enough away to find ears to hear of your suffering,
I promise that I’ve never been more pleased to say you’re wrong.