Wild (Sweet Accidents)

There was a prison-bus-limo outside Pizza Hut

(beef jerky)

And we watched a bad Disney Channel show while we ate

(cherries too)

That delicious pizza with subliminal meaning

(i’ve never noticed how much you cuss)

Stuffed with greasy cheese.

 I was scared to even go

(place where it all began)

Through the front doors

(not going to talk to me)

And up to the table where

(never been tickled by whiskers before)

He waited.

 But it was okay, it was

(i’d nearly forgotten how beautiful you are)

More than okay, it was

(oh, please don’t laugh too much)

Just like old times.

 There was the usual

(one day maybe you’ll do it)

Letdown at the end, squeezing

(you said you would, pretty much promised)

My eyes shut tight so I wouldn’t see

(maybe at show #20)

Those stupid glow-in-the-dark American flags.

 Then you hugged me close

(smelling that secret, expensive cologne)

And sighed, remembering this time that I was a senior

(just two more left, but don’t think of that now)

Telling me that I came to mind every time

(if that’s a lie it’s a beautiful one)

You sang that song.

 You  laughed and talked about your children

(Kaison, Presley, and ah yes, their mother)

Until I thought I’d burst with hidden jealousy

(wish I never saw her, knew her face)

And blurt out the Truth.

 But then, oh yes but then

(something special always happens here)

You went to hug me again and instead

(god bless sweet accidents)

Of kissing my cheek, you made our lips duet

(keep breathing, inhale then exhale)

And I could have died happy on the spot

(knowing I really couldn’t have you)

With you as my very first kiss.

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.

Lessons

"Lesson learned, now it's history"
I can't-- wait, scratch that, won't--
Be what everyone else says I should be,
And there's plenty of people
Who love me for that.

Breaking away from a poisonous friendship
Saying "No, no, NO!" 'til it finally stuck
And I could let the chains that once felt like
Comforting arms
Drop away
And hit the ground
When I'm already miles down the road.

Learning the truth behind the "anyone can join"
When really you have to be the one on the floor,
The one with sore lips from kissing butt,
The one who can't imagine life
Without the woman who can't even see
How she drove me away.

I learned that too much of everything
Can lead to a day in a plastic hell
With blue dye in your head and a needle
In your arm and a prayer that it's not what
You think.

I learned that the people who love you
Are the ones who accept your hardheadedness,
Your quirks, your feelings, and your needs,
The ones who will smile and call you beautiful
When you're standing there with makeup on your chin
And snot running down from your nose.

They're the ones who come running
When you call, the ones who are happy
Simply because you are happy,
And laugh everytime you blush
At an inside joke about Hawaiian pizza.

Lesson learned, thanks a bunch,
Now let's get started on now.