Hobbledehoy

We are like two adolescents at a dance. We eye each other, smile shyly, then look away. We do not tell each other what we want, even though we both think we know. Instead we circle, frustratingly coy, absurdly over-considerate, uncomfortably aware of one another's intentions, and wait for another chance.

Vorlage

He cut her out, cut her down, brought her to her knees and left her there. It's not fair. No is always more powerful than yes, and yet it cannot bring any success. Heart leans forward to gain speed; Head says, Who, slow down, I need room to breathe. Well while you breathe she sits and cries, and that's your fault, you lived her lies.

Siamese fighting fish

I called her Rainbow before I even knew what that meant, when playtime and bubble baths fell like snow on my head and I believed that that was all there would ever be. Your name, even then, must have been known to me, in some quiet secret far off place reserved for serendipity. So when you ask me to go, don't forget the way I kiss, because I've held your heart as delicately as I could since the age of three.

Skosh

There is a small part of her that wonders. Sparkling eyes and a charming smile. How much harm could it possibly do? The innocence we create has been proven false time and time again, so perhaps there is nothing now to fear. Maybe he thinks the same, and maybe you do too. The truth is, I give my imagination some leeway because my heart has already locked in place.

Quadriga

I am not impressed by your arrogance or your idealism. I am intimidated by your power and your discretion. I have nothing to prove, but I have to prove that to you. I am the horse, you are the carriage, and my future rides us both. So let us go slowly, and let me have hope.

Batophobia

What is he afraid of? The greatness of love? I see in him what I saw in you, only he may succeed where you failed, and fail where you succeeded. There are always going to be reasons, unfortunately, because reason occupies all the spaces in our heads that our hearts don't want. Emotion knows no fear, though, and that is why I trust it more.

Xenogenesis

You sat there and laughed with me. How can I forget? The betrayal she claimed, I denied, because I thought you were better than that. Now I see, though, that you're more like the rest. Well, at least I've got who I need. At least I've got the best.

Yagi

On my roof, I watch the sky float by, weave in and out of the antenna lines, slip gracefully above the trees. I know the truth now, and I'm trying to reconcile it with what I used to believe. I'm hiding up here because my world turned a little bit upside down last night, and it's my best friend's fault, and there's nothing I can do.

Roux

Temptation rises like bread in an oven, hot and delicious. I want to eat, but I am afraid. I won't often admit that, but if you listen carefully, you'll hear my whisper now. There are so few chances in life, and my passions fly so quickly I fear I'll miss them all. I'm at the table with my knife and fork in hand, but the plate in front of me is empty.

Dodecagon

How many sides to this story? How many angles to examine, absorb, and understand? How many tales to hear? How many paths to walk and shoes to try? How many hearts to break and spirits to bend? How many lies to see through? How many secrets to ignore? How many pains to pretend don't exist? How many chances to give?

Paean

One half of me wants to rage. To scream in the face of the blind one and hope that she finally sees. To shout to the heavens that this is not fair and I am tired. This half shares no sympathetic tear, no understanding hand. This half hears hate and returns it. This half is too proud. But for better or for worse, the other half is in charge.

Upraise

He lifts her up, sky high. He shares her joy and carries her burden. When she wades through sorrow, he holds her hand and follows her along the shore. He will not just let her go adrift. He will not abandon her as the others often do. He will kiss her and soothe her hair and touch her and hold her. And he will let her do the same to him. And that will be enough.

Exceptionable

You direct my attention, and I act out the excitement like an award-winning actress. No one knows the trouble I've seen, nor do they applaud the trouble I've averted. But I will never call out my own name, because that is not the way of the sunshine people. We do not argue with modesty imposed. We do not look you in the eye. You do not understand, but we do not care. We are who we are, and we will not change for you.

Tuffet

What is truly in my heart frightens me sometimes. I don't even know it all, because I'm too afraid to see the goblins that lurk in the recesses. I'm not proud of their existence, their lowly throne in the dark, so I hide their faces behind my own. The facade has won so far.

Wonky

He speaks in the feeble tongue of someone who cares too much. He's gone, and we all know it. I tell myself it's not her fault, but I'm not sure I have conviction. I remember how often he used to laugh and the fun we used to have. I squint at the past, bright as the sun, and I can't help wishing for it to rise again.

Aesthete

She looks in the mirror and isn't satisfied with what she sees. There are seven hundred little fairies dancing in her head, with perfect teeth and perfect hair and eyes that shine like gold. She watches as they flutter by and cries that she can't join. Flightless, fearless, and a hidden sorrow, she dreams of knowing faith in self so that she might soar as well.

Sessile

You are the flow of fire over the wax, the flicker of flame that burns below the skyline. You are strong and steady, but you do not need a home. You make a stand, and you defy the angry breath of dissenters. They lie in wait, and you smile and wave. This is not a battle they will win, because this is not a battle you will fight.

Rejuvenate

You fix me up, you tie me down. You make me forget that I don't want to be me. You share the bird's eye view. I take your hand and go anywhere, because your invitation is sincere. Bad memories fade given time and affection. Good memories spring up in their place. Youth is not everlasting, but somehow I know this is.

Habitué

You look me up and down, taking inventory of your goods. I come so frequently now that it's no effort at all to move. You know the rhythm of my walk, my journey. I trust that I will find my way.

Nugatory

Afterwards, they lie in bed and just breathe. They are spent. They are sweat. The air hugs close the sour scent. The pair takes no notice. Eyes closed, they separate, they drift. They stop inhabiting each other and start the trek to their own worlds. This is how it should be. This is a beautiful night.

Oubliette

Carry me. Carry me. Carry me. I sit here waiting for someone to carry me. I am afraid for it is dark. I am cold for there is no air. I am tired for I cannot sleep. And I need hope for it has fled. Carry me, carry me, carry me. Out of this cell and into the light. Carry me, and I will carry you.

Zander

Take a leap of faith with me and hold your breath; I promise you will live. At the end of the day, flying high only gets you so far. Who are you going to share all that treasure with? I don't want to build sandcastles too close to the shore, but I assure you the water's warm. The fish nip softly at our salty skin, but I can't feel a thing except your hand.

Newel

He is my rock, my heart, my breath of fresh air. He is the reason, the question, the answer. He is not better or worse or the same. He is not a crutch, a bad habit, or a sin. He is a scar, healed. He is a tear, dried. He is exactly what I want and need, because he is him and I am me.

Dentate

We share our fingertips like crumbs of bread. The mistakes bleed with the color of passion, and the teeth of my eyes are eager for their meal. Piping hot and full of fury for not listening, for obeying fear, I hand over my confidence with a wistful sigh and wait for you to steal it back from the demons in the sky.

Yakitori

We keep on taking these little nibbling bites, eyeing the feast warily. Sometimes I tire of the wait. Sometime I want to devour it, to gorge, to truly let loose and go overboard. Right now I could eat all day. Right now there is no thought, no desire, no drive other than the flavor.

Inalterable

There's a tattoo on the inside of her left ankle. That cannot be changed. Though she has exchanged her angry black past for the acceptable pastels of the people-friendly world, reality keeps its hold on her skin. That mark, that brand, that Chinese symbol for "power," tells the heavens that this kitten is not as she seems. A lion's cub, she cuts her teeth in private. She acts tame, but her wild streak will always live on.

Reprieve

This place is my home, my sanctuary, my reprieve. But the purity has been split and now the pool of safety leaks outward and away. The calamity of wanting to be and needing not to shakes the earth beneath my feet. The violent airs, stirred by time's unforgiving hand, bluster in my face. I push back my hair and take a deep breath. I'm going into the eye of the storm.

Jodhpurs

Reflected in his eyes is the heat of riding a thoroughbred to the finish line, the nobility of a prince who loves his people, and the diamond shine of wide eyes focused on the sky. You can't help watching because he commands your attention, your respect, your affection. The soldier who never holds a gun. The doctor who always heals your wound. He is the one, and you will see, and you will believe. He can defy the world.

Habdalah

Closed, cold. Divided, divisive. These are the things we are, we eat, we fill our mouths and hearts with the vile practices learned from too much distance and an overdose of fear. What if there is no remedy? What if we cannot cure? We'll simmer until we boil over and spill and burn and bubble away. Is that what we want? Is that all we can be?

Monadnock

No man is an island, but this woman has had her days. Sh started out as a small but spectacular little volcano, erupting with passion and life. She built up a home around herself, and there she thrived. Over the years, many a storm or even ocean wave has tried to wear her down, but she stood her ground, stubborn and proud. She did not wash away. Now her love affair is with the wind, because though he is different, he understands. He does not try to change her. He simply moves around her, caresses her, allows her to be. He is perfect in his airy ways.

Artiodactyl

You ask to know the things inside my heart. Don't you recognize yourself? Your smile fills every corner of my being and wraps me in a warmth more vibrant than the sun. I feel joy just thinking of you. We are two beasts, two separate creatures, but we met, and now sometimes we breathe as one. I cannot explain. I cannot express. You rob me of words, even while you inspire them.

Lucre

The best days of our lives are fast slipping through our fingers, it feels like. Lucrative nights followed by undying ambitions sail on the golden wings of our youth. So what happens when our hairs turn grey and our hearing quiets and our vision blurs? What happens when we turn to rust? The oil can is not infinite, but the clock will never stop.

Gelato

We smiled as we took each other's hands and ran across the plaza to the little shop on the corner. Our stomachs were in our eyes and our noses to the window as we scanned the flavors for the one we wanted most. How could we choose when everything looked so good? In the end we selected on impulse and cheerfully exchanged our money for our cones. Then, licking our gelato, we walked to the river for a pleasant chat and stroll.

Hubbub

You lost your tongue in the tumult of the firsts, the rowdy waves that crash over us in crazy, unbounded rushes, unceasing, unabashed, and overwhelming. I take it upon me to watch out for you, to clutch your life preserver at the ready. But you don't want or need me there. You're capable, and adamantly so.

Fraktur

She likes to keep things simple. She doesn't mess with frills. She finds strengths and works with them, plays them up to her advantage. The line blurs between fact and fiction when she looks back on her past, but in her heart she knows the truth is closer to her side than theirs. After all, who knows better, the spirit or the letter? For sure, she believes in ghosts.

Mucro

I had to draw a diagram to explain to myself my own ideas. The spark was there, but small and dull, and that worries me to know. We're talking about contagious behaviors and I can't even catch on to what's going on in my own head. There's a fuzz, a cloud, a foggy haze, encircling my fortress. Nothing's new, yet I still feel green. I think the world stopped turning.

Hay

Somebody popped this bubble, and the only thought that's running through my head is "Goddamnit." I don't want to go. I know this had to happen, and I know it's gonna be fine, but sometimes I just can't help wanting. Wanting too much, perhaps. Wanting a life I can write myself. But like that bunny in the cage, happily chewing on its hay, I've had my day and now it's time to work to earn what I've got. Fortune favors the bold, as I have seen, and the patient, as I am going to prove.

Altered

Filtration of words through smiling faces and overprotective cotton in the ears and mind causes more problems than it solves. There are so many times I want to lie and hide but I know that there is no point. You'll see through my altered state of honesty to the me I'm afraid to show. Instead I bare all and see what happens, because with you there's no reason to fear.

Waived

You take your time, measure your words, and then pour them very carefully into the mold. I, on the other hand, am brash and brazen and move forward without thinking. There are many different ways to approach life, but I've always thought of myself as decently successful. Until recently. As of late, I've had to question myself, had to question the way I do things, the results I get. I'm beginning to think all my rights have been waived: that easy kind of friendship is now off-limits.