Tampa

I assume you exist only to ruin friendships?

I was quenched

you thought you knew best

now I’m on the fence

always wearing a veil

wait for you to derail

fear you may be too frail

simple essences: a boy and a girl.

a flare for the radical

prone to sabbatical

forever impractical

seemingly scary

on the contrary,

perpetually weary

always the feminist

unless your heart’s in the mix

glad it could be fixed

constant resuscitation

bound by limitation

resort to manipulation

Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?

I’m in a tailspin

needles under my skin

human pin cushion

nothing but a has-been

she’s singing your name

feel I’m going insane

bile rising with shame

there’s no one to blame

* * *

frozen in these conventional trappings

perpetual unravelling

we're fragments in space

reaching for a made-up place

where the air smells of caramel

I’ll be your Zooey Deschanel

your manic pixie dream girl

paradisical

A boy’s will is the wind’s will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.