Notes from a Genius

When the Prologue is Done We Kiss Goodnight You asked Why I kiss With my eyes open And I Shrugged it off Saying, “I don’t know” But the truth is I want to Take you all in How you look With your eyes closed The position of your nose The strands of hair that fall in your face Your hands on my hips Pulling me in Your feet surrounding my feet I hold your head in my hands As our noses touch Our bodies tense We are so close There’s no turning back As our hearts beat On top of each other You open your eyes To spy on me Perhaps Instead You steal my soul That until now I’d kept hidden _____________________________________________________________ What Lies Outside the Window Can you hear The sound of helicopters’ propellers As they cut through the air Like a knife cutting the tension Of two nations come to a head And a war erupts With the sound of Everyday life continuing Outside our bedroom window Sounds of machine guns in the distance The faint whistle of grenades About to explode And when the...

Written in Stone, Fragile as Bone I’ve been warned about you But I’d like to find out for myself And get hurt on my own Terms Of endearment Just how bad is this cancer Inside my heart Just how bad could this heart break be I’ve gotten over better than you Don’t you feel it now The blood in my veins Pumping Don’t you hear it now My love Singing out your name I’ve been thinking about what you said Yesterday And I’m sorry for how you feel What can I say to change your mind Promise me you’ll stay Even just for the night Until I cannot bear the pain Any longer I’m forced to confess I will be broken For you I will wait Forever For you My love will be clever For you I’ll be nothing if it means that much To you I won’t change a thing For you ______________________________________________________________ When the Truth Comes Out When she called me just the other day It was a conversation, diluted, just like all the others But there was something in her voice It was a whisper Like she didn’t wa...

Youth Marked Scars into Adulthood I loved you Through the skin and muscle, oh the tone Even through the thinning marrow of the bone Unable to break and set properly in place Shrink me down into the nucleus of your blood cells Buried there are your secrets, your deepest sins The air I breathe is just a darkened jail A brand new cage for me to suffer in Since I loved you Take cover in my naivete This boyish charm is only a façade For a blackened heart Filled with apathy from years of torment Of what claimed to be love Was just another lie told to myself I wish I had the span to pay you attention But your hand-outs are a false sense of pride and security To men hanging on by the thread of hope Only to avoid the pain That loving you will inevitably bring (You’ll run away, I know- You’re all the same) Still I choose to play this game Still you choose to reenact this sad display of charity Is this the way a toy feels When its battery runs out And its better days are behind it (Or when Jessie...

"I Once Knew a Girl Named Laura, This Isn't About Her, Though" Laura, when you came over To spill the truth about me and you I couldn't help but not believe The rhyme to your reason Because Laura, it's the ones with the broken hearts Who've done all the loving Laura, if you'd just take some time You'd soon realize I'm the one you've been searching for I'm here for the long-haul Laura, I don't want to be the boy To break your heart, no more Laura, I want to be the man you can always count on So Laura, if you want to know the truth Take my hand, exposed, As a gesture of anticipation to participate For it is in giving of ourselves That we find a little piece of heaven Laura, allow me this time To wax philosophical For just a moment of your time Laura, did you know That a rose is most beautiful The moments before its wilting Don't, please, Laura, ask yourself why I would mention such tragedy In an attempt to recount the best of our affa...

"Here is the Heart, Bleeding" I'll leave compassion on the street Like a dog on a leash Indifferent to defeat Offer up condolences To a motherless child Strapped in the backseat Of this bystander's sideshow attraction Disguised as a distraction And I'll set the fire If you light the match At least we can console In the fact We both poured the gasoline And walked away In victory Hand in hand We will become The famous last brushstrokes of an artist's protege Forever earmarked with watercolors Upon a canvas of blood and stone Since marble is too difficult to sculpt To mold, like clay Keep your posture straight And your self-composure intact As the artist resets the bone I'll be the fountain In perpetual motion Releasing tension Youth disguised As a garbage fire Somewhat contained But we all play The roles they assigned us Young lovers As we do

"Rome Was Not Built in a Day, But You Were" This tower was built for two But the infrastructure is rotting From a lack of proper maintenance A warm gesture In a heart-felt confession Of better days Spent locked away In the tower's single room Where flesh could be admired And devoured No sunlight peeks through The shades are drawn On the single window In the single room Where a mood is set In preparation for Solitary confinement Together, Rapunzel and I Oh, let down her hair Readjustment of an attitude Refinement Refreshments All better words left unsaid Rapunzel Lips mark my grave Where my unforgiven soul will rest Until the truth is told How your body was sold To the admirers of the flesh Whose eyes cast shadows upon the crevices Only I knew I never cared for you Rapunzel I only said "I love you" Enough to fuck you And the truth is I only really liked you And the way you breathed Underwater And the way you looked Down on me From your ivory tower The view The wh...

"It Was Better with the Lights Off" You are the poison in my bloodstream The reason I can't shake this disease You come at me with the slightest of ease And strike with a thorn to my side You are perched high on your throne The pedestal I made for you, too small You are quick to rush to judgment Of me, your loyal subject on his knees I'd call you a liar If I had a mirror And the backbone To take the heat But we both know I'll cower at your feet And crawl back to you As the pain of your words Seeps in through my pores And cuts so deep I couldn't keep The sutures in place Even if I was nursed Back to health Like a wounded deer All the girls fawn over It remains easier To admire the statue of your stature From a cool, safe distance When, up close, your attacks Are more personal in nature So to maintain the strength I have left I cover my ears At the tone your voice provides I cover my eyes At the cold stare your look sends And I brace myself For the arsenal your ...

"Remember That Song By That Band We Both Liked" I want to get lost Between the white space Of your shadow and the pillow Or The creases of the pages You turn with a delicacy Only another author would appreciate Between the tips of your fingers That hold The true identification of who you are Found on the surface of Your fingerprints When pressed and imbedded in the ink Which drenches the map Of the creases of your skin I long to find myself within Held in a warm embrace Or lost within the cave of a warmer place Your slender arms claim heavy As if they regret ever moving From their once better lover's face To my body And your long, never-ending legs Don't seem to move But a single inch at a time Like a draw bridge Extending an invitation Your eyes say what your mouth wants to And I fight every urge Every instinct Instead I play the role of your protector Come and gone >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...

"Obscurity In Between the Sheets" You'll be just another obscure reference A footnote A casual mention in the appendix For the long list of traders The men who afford boats and bonds Stock options And baggage to load As they travel, alone, up the coast You'll be a remembrance Of all the ghosts of all the ghosts of all the girls From the past Girls, much like yourself, Whom these men loved and lost But at what cost In a long drawn out battle of wits Fought And lost, in the end But at what cost You'll be the blanket of stars That envelopes their hearts In the darkest part of the day When these men say "Good night" And their lovers know It means "Good bye" in actuality But these men, who travel light Know better than To put an ... On such a casual encounter That could only hurt the bedsprings Rather than a woman's heartstrings You'll be the one To pull all the punches Leaving no traces of scars Once the feeling of attachment Rears its ugly...