A Place Only You Can Go

I escape myself
I watch you
I close my eyes
And listen.
There’s nothing quite like
Being there
Losing my fears
My doubts
And my frustrations
In the scream of the guitar
And the sweet sweet harmonies
From your lips.
There’s nothing like
Listening to the words of
Every song
And hearing the joy
The love
That goes into writing them.
There’s nothing like
Sweating, living, breathing,
Jumping up and down and
Screaming until my voice
Is nearly as raw as
The lead singer’s.
There’s nothing in this world
More powerful, more profound,
More spiritual
Than being a part of something
So real
So rare
And so redeeming
To my
Very soul.
There’s nothing like
Catching a glimpse
On the street
And feeling my heart
Stop.
There’s nothing like
Standing in the cold
Staring at my shoes
Because I looked into
His eyes and was surprised
By the weakness I felt
In my knees.
There’s nothing like
Watching you talk
To other fans
About clothes and how
Stupid it is that they wouldn’t let
You take pictures of something
You wanted to buy,
And I’m wondering how it could be
That someone I’ve seen
Twice
And has a mustache and wears old-man
Cardigans
And dances like a beautiful fool
And can sing higher than I can
Could ever make me feel
So alive
With just a glance.

Crash

I wake up
Again and cover my eyes
Searching and pleading
With the night to deliver me
From the hellish space from
Which I awoke.

I killed you.
Every night, again and
Again I kill you and can't stop
You from dying.
Blood,
Your blood that I shed
Blood that marks my door;
Not spared but condemned,
Oh please let me wake.

I sit down, I close the door
THUD
I start the engine
GROWL
I've just left you laughing
Oh what a sweet time we've had,
And now I'm leaving.
I switch into DRIVE
But you step in front of me,
Beg me not to go.

I'm powerless, the car leaps
And you're down and dead
And it's my fault, MY fault
And I scream
And I cry
And you are still
And I wake up
Again.

Search

Ask anyone,
I lose things
Almost constantly, or
I put it down
For a second and it
Somehow vanishes into thin air, so
Next time I'll write myself a little note
And maybe I won't forget to take
My backpack with me to school or I'll
Actually recall that I'm supposed to go
To work today. Yes! I'll just scribble something down
In my destined-to-be-a-doctor penmanship and THEN
FINALLY I'll actually remember to.......
oh DRAT I've lost my pen.

Modern (and Me)

Hi.
My name's Sarah.
I'm seventeen years old,
I don't have a boyfriend,
And I don't want one.

I watch one TV show,
I listen to Elvis, Johnny Cash,
The Doors, The Carpenters,
The Turtles, The Beatles,
And Ray Charles, and I enjoy
Spending time with my parents.

The best Christmas present I
Ever got was a record player,
And I know how to play 45s.
I'd rather read a good book
Than go to prom, and my car
Is a year older than I am.

I'm not afraid to go out
Without makeup, and I
Still feel cool singing in
The car with my mom.

I'd rather go to Branson
Than spend a week in LA,
And most of my closest friends
Were old enough to remember
When JFK was shot.

There's your average, run-of-the-mill
Teenager, the girls who listen to everybody
Else's music, and wears everybody else's
Clothes,
And then there's me.
I may not know how to use an iPhone,
But I'm in pretty good company there.

Talking Pictures

It’s where you greeted me
Jumping up and down
Waving your arms and laughing
Like a child.

 It’s where you insisted I sit

Right across from you
“Where we can talk”,
About Elvis, first cars, and
Mickey Mouse.

 It’s where you talked baseball

Like it was physical poetry, scrunching up
Your funny nose and swinging an invisible bat,
The bill of your Astros cap almost touching
My forehead.

 It’s where you insisted it was 1972, not ’74,

And where you laughed when you proved me wrong.
It was there, too, that your dad insisted Gladys gave
Elvis that blue velvet shirt,
And we proved it was Natalie.

 It was there you stole a bite of catfish, and spat

A mouthful of watermelon seeds, and
Blew bubbles in your Diet Coke.

 You almost spilled your ice cream

Down my back, and ate four plates of food,
And kicked me with your beaten-up boots,
And nodded appreciatively when I told you
My favorite year was 1976.

 It was there you whispered “Love you”

In my ear as we were leaving, and gave
My arm a squeeze as we went our separate ways.

 And it’s there now

That shards of glass are spewed,
That mounds of concrete lay cold,
That carpet is littered with bits of drywall
And leaves and twigs and dirt.

Mother Nature took my memory,
Swept it up, and left it
Somewhere else.

 I’ll never know what happened

To that giant violin.