Stomach flu’s and fevers
couldn't ever stop us
and lack of sleep never mattered
because we slept-walked
and talked all day long;
Ceramic dreams pulled at closed eyelids.
Early car rides
made gravel ricochet like hope
straight through [the holes in] our hearts.
We spelled cliché without vowels
Because A E I O U sounds
like some sort of cry for help
[The ones you make
while choking on dip n dots and cotton candy]
…and other treats meant to melt on your tongue.
You stood outside and pumped gasoline,
my face and hands pressed against glass windows;
I saw something other than morning’s toothpaste
and breakfast crumbs in that smile--
( Gas prices were high )
and you swore you two must
have had something in common.
Rusted sinks in unisex bathrooms;
We wondered what that even meant
and if we fitted even the label.
We still slid open the doors
and dry swallowed pills.
They had nothing to do with you--
God only knows why you believed me
when I swore the milligrams
were for head pains
and a finger-painted label
spelt out Tylienol in smudged letters.
But, who cares?
I didn't love you.
I wasn't head over heels for that chirping laugh,
that swallowed early bird worms by the bucket,
or those grave digging eyes that make me feel more dead than alive, and how..
and how..
You didn't love me,
and how I was already in love with someone else,
as were you.
Head slumped on shoulder, corners fixated and
fitted as if only to exist at that very moment.
Were we forcing mismatched puzzle pieces together?
Trying to blend a cardboard image
On the backs of our hands.
Were you holding back the screams
of theme park dreams and wasted change?
‘Cus for one, Sweetie-
Love. isn't. wasn't .will never.
be anything like a mother fucking roller coaster.
I’m not scared (Sweaty/shaking/trembling bones),
And there’s no way this is any fun
(lips curled at the edges; teeth showing. A smile you say? No kidding…)
and I’m not sick to my stomach
( even though my organs have never struggled so
hard to jump from my lips.)
Midnight car rides on dim-lit highways
Where 80 mph is apparently not fast enough
To stand a chance in the race against the
Thud-thud-thud
Of my heart against my rib cage.
Would you give up love…
For love?
Bronze trophy winner
Gold trophy winner
Honorable mention
Silver trophy winner
Adding your comment:
Nice job, once again.
