Same hands...

you are different
but you have the same hands
the same mouth
so it's hard not to remember
that our hands used to fit together
so perfectly on a night—any night—
spent on the couch, television on.
now we stiffen
as our hands graze one another
inches apart on the same couch.
your same hands.

The single have no bedtime...

the single have no bedtime
no curfew to meet
they may stay up for hours in front of the computer's glow
they may not leave the sofa until 3 a.m.
groggily making their way to cold beds, dark rooms

they are not prodded by the internal clock of another
there is no finishing prize
no warmth beside them
no heavy breath in the midnight air
just the rustling of sheets as insomnia sets in

Molasses...

time should be more like

the black molasses

sitting in a jam jar

on my grandmother's window sill

try to pour it out

it comes slow and easy

as it moves you watch

dip your fingers in and put them to your lips

taste its sweetness

Night after night...

He remembered the first time he slept beside her. Heavy eyelids, voices trailing, her hand resting on his thigh.

The next night, lying in the dark, he felt a soft hand looking for the same spot it had been the night before. Once her hand was in place, he felt her body relax as she let out a sigh and fell asleep. And so this continued the night after that. And the night after that.

One night, as they were turning down the covers, he looked at her with a slight smile and asked, “Why do you put your hand on my leg every night before we go to sleep?” She answered, "Well, as long as I am touching you I know you are there, even if I’m somewhere else in my dreams." She paused for a moment. "I know how you love to travel, and when my dreams take me extraordinary places you have a better chance of coming along if we’re connected."

Skyline...

I look at the skyline and see skeletons of steel. Rows of windows—some illuminated, some dark. Walls of concrete reaching up toward the sky. Stones and the mortar that holds them in place.

You see squares stacked on top of one another. Differential equations scrawled on paper. Tangent lines just kissing the curves. The surrounding context that provides the backdrop.

I see the end.
You see the means.
And through you I see the beauty of the big picture.

Phantom limb...

"For the patients, long after the amputation is made, say they still feel pain in the amputated part. Of this they complain strongly, a thing worthy of wonder and almost incredible to people who have not experienced this. I believe this notion, the continuance of pain after loss, to be direct proof of the existence of the soul." –Ambroise Paré, 1551


I know you're out there somewhere living life—breathing in and out, laughing the kind of laugh that crinkles your eyes. I can’t hear your sounds, no matter how hard my ears strain. We no longer share the same spaces, though we share the same sky, and I often wonder where you fall under it. I try to visualize the distance, sticking pins in a map—blue for me, green for you—to mark the miles. Without you, I ache for what used to be. An itch that can't be scratched. A phantom limb.

If there was no you...

"If There Was No You"

When I see myself
I'm seeing you too
as long as I remember
and I'm feeling like I knew
that my jokes aren't funny
the truth isn't true
if there was no you.

If you were my boat in the deep blue sea
I'd probably sink you down.
I know I should have thanked you for carrying me
but for you I would happily drown.

Out on your way the darkest night the longest day
I know what to say to make you laugh.
And nothing you could do
could make me turn my back on you.
When you're looking for a fight,
I'm your man.
When you need a friend,
you got my hand.

And what I really mean
what I'm trying hard to say
is that I'm counting on you
and you got me too.
Our secrets aren't safe
I'm singing out of tune
if there was no you...
if there was no you.

Out on your way the darkest night the longest day
I know what to say to make you laugh.
And nothing you could do
could make me turn my back on you.
When you're looking for a fight,
I'm your man.
When you need a friend
you got my hand.
When you need a friend
you got my hand...
you got my hand.