breaking bottles and getting strung out on polaroids
you said all the words
but never spoke just to make noise

passed out in front of fresh fire logs
wetter than the toads and frogs
and I didn't think I'd sink but still

we drifted off like analog
a dying breed, a familiar fog
your mother said you must stay south
so I did without

flat

brow bones
half grown
left alone

when your voice is flat
I'd say anything
to bring some tone
back to me

It doesn't have to be
soothing

The way it should feel

I bite you but it just tastes sweet

not like iron

not metal like I’m used to

You touch me and it’s warmth

it doesn’t feel purple

like I’m used to

You speak and the words

wrap around me, but they do not
hold me down

gasoline

you said I moved too far

packed my bags and sold my car

tell everyone a sad story

like I broke your heart

When you get bored you wanna take me

like a hit

I’m not you’re mom and you are not

a fucking kid

your girlfriend calls me crying

knows my name from across the coast

says you still fuck around a lot
but you told her you love me the most

Front Teeth

I didn’t see it before

but I look like you

I didn’t hear it before

but our laughs are the same

I used to have long front teeth

I chipped one, insurance covered the repair

I looked in the mirror and out came a tear

both filed down to normal size. 

“I thought you would like it, a free extra,” he said. “You’ll get used to it and like it better than before. It’s just a shock now."

But those were my long teeth

the same ones in your mouth

I washed you brush every morning

Spit into the sink and tell me “don’t drink coffee or smoke cigarettes. Keep yours white.”

But you were still perfect. 

Fiddle

I tried before, to find a metaphor
to make the world understand

you're in my brain
but I can't explain
what makes you make me
the way I am.

Won't call you a sweater
sure you're warm
but you fit me in any weather

Won't call you a bird
even if though you're sweet
because you only chirp for me

Won't call you a promise
because there is no obligation
you just like being here

Some before, played me like
a fiddle

But you hold me, deliberate
soft when the song needs it
like your favorite guitar.

I guess I don't know what to call you
because it's never been this way before

I guess I don't know what to call you
because it's never been this way before.

Limbo

Won't let myself be happy
just because you're not around

this isn't good
you say --
you'd say

Feeling guilty just for living
even if there was no antidote

Feeling guilt just for breathing
because someone else's face went blue

At night I hold my breathe
trying my best not to make a sound

If I'm going to sweat and shake,
let the memories jar me
till I jerk myself awake
what's the point anyhow?

I tried to give my spine to you
flow my fluid through your cord

Like the blood and body you gave me
like the cord that connected you to me

but there's no use
in trying to reanimate a corpse

there's no magic
that will bring the blood back

I could stand here in limbo forever
wishing were both on other sides

It won't do me any good.
It won't do you any good.