this is not a poem about love
and I will not talk about how you taste of sour patch kids
or how your laugh illuminates my blackened soul

this is not a poem about love
and i will not mention the way you hold me like i am the answers
you discovered whilst exploring the depths of the universe

this is not a poem about love
and i will not speak of the way you ignite the dwindling fire in my heart
with a simple smile

this is not a poem about love
and i will not reference how you shade in the blanks of my mind
with vibrant hues of your perfect self

this is not a poem about love
but i will never make a good liar
and, my dear, you have captured me

Violets rage
with indigo pulses
beneath the shadows
of your parents' porch;
Spitting purple, but
soaking the rainbow
from whatever light
granted by the sun.

I swore that I knew you
just like the back of my hand
every blemish, every freckle,
every scar, was you

But now
My blemishes begin to even out
My freckles, rearranging themselves
And any old scars are fading.

She and I exchanged disdainful glances
across the parking lot. The verbally brash
invitation she gave me at 10:30 two nights
earlier from a low-riding car resounded
in my brain. She wanted our graduating class
to get together and sit awkwardly around
a campfire while a few reminisced
of homeroom and half days back in high
school. And as the last few embers glowed
like residence halls, she would clear
her throat and bash college. She’d denounce
the curriculum, professors, and parking spaces
then praise the days of hurrying through carpeted
hallways and freshmen traffic. To see our classmates
laughing with hands outstretched to the flames
would bring a smile to her summer-chapped lips.
But we’re no longer classmates.
We’re just seventeen people trying to live our lives
outside the confines of Galeton High School. Sure,
we’ll bite our tongues and fake smiles every now
and then, but we’ll never be more than superficial.

You loved me when
   I was loved by everyone else

but when I was lonely,

*you only made me lonelier.