The #text generation
Assigns too much weight
To a ding of a phone
Mind boggling rules
Who texted who first
How long was the gap
Careful with emojis
Constant checking
Waiting for the first I love you
Without asking
What weight would it carry
Sent over text

Twinkling blue eyes
A hysterical genius
A heartfelt actor
Brought us to tears
Your infections energy
Lighting us up
Our own humanity
Revealed to us
With your vulnerability
Sitting on a park bench
Teaching us lessons
Granting us wishes
Setting our souls on fire

She had never in her life
Asked the simple question
What do I want?
Too busy with what she had to do
What others needed her to do
It felt foreign and almost selfish
To gaze into the unknown
I do not know
Ringing in her ears
It was time to find out

Her mind was haunted
By unexpected music
Only she could hear

Clinging to the key
Your heart in a cage
Studying the lock
Freedom beckons
Overruled by fear
Love can never get out

When you find yourself
Worrying what others think
Wanting to live your life for them
To save yourself from judgment
Please remember
No one is preoccupied
With your life as much as you
Live the life you want to

He claimed to want #love
As he complained
He was too busy
To go find it
He claimed to want love
As he ignored texts
To schedule dates
He claimed to want love
While finding fault
In every potential
Romantic partner
He was really in love
With not finding love

This is for those
Trying to keep their chin up
Trying to find the positive
Trying to stay connected
Forging their way through
Who do not tell a soul
How much they are suffering
For a mountain of reasons
Know that you are not alone

I became a #poet
When daily life
Defied explanation
Unfathomable
It all flowed out
In a million ways
From flowery love poems
To Hemingway prose
That was close enough
A standalone quote
Wading my way through
Our nightmare
I found #poetry
To be
The great escape
I needed

I was entirely sure
Everything was fine
Until I missed you
In a way I could not name

Keep speaking up
Even when no one
Listens to you
Keep speaking up
Especially when you know
You will never be heard
Speak with lost hope and defeat
Someone will hear it
Your broken voice
Will ring loudly
Keep speaking up
Until you are heard

Wait
The dawn will break
No matter how dark the night
Even if you have lost your grasp
To swirling thoughts and tears
Forgetting who can help or how
I ask you one motionless favor
Sit and wait for the morning light

Your fear is winning
He told his fading friend
You must open your eyes
Do not disintegrate
In your hiding
Stay awake
Overwhelming grief
Is inescapable
Even if you lock
Your heart away
You will mourn
The life you would
Have had if you dared
To love

She found her imagination
Stalled by anxiety
Muted by depression
Silenced by insomnia
In her disappointment
She put down her pen
Took an exhausted breath
Decided just this once
To give herself permission
To go to bed and dream
Away the day

No love #poems
His teacher said sternly
You must learn
To write about other things
Leaving him at his desk
Twiddling his pencil
Staring out the window
Trying to think
Of what to write
The trouble was
He was in love
With life

Channel surf and stumble across a new movie
Listen to the full CD and fall in love with the filler
Flip through the pages of library books
Find one that speaks to you
Spend a rainy Sunday afternoon
Making artistic discoveries
The old fashioned way

He was unprepared
For a heart like hers
It changed his

She was unafraid
Of the dark murky lagoon
She saw no creatures there
It appeared too dirty
To take a swim in it
She turned to walk away
A large scaly webbed hand
Wrapped around her ankle
As she let out a scream
No one would hear

He missed the days
When photos were stored
In pockets and lockets
In wallets and homes
Instead of just phones

She walked through
Her front door
In stunned silence
She had not considered
The possibility
It would work out
Yet there she stood
Living the miraculous reality
It did

She would rifle through
Her oversized bag
Pretending to look
For some buried item
To protect herself
From the predatory gaze
Of the man sitting
Across from her
On the night train

There is a space
Between friendship and love
It is possible to occupy
Without either person
Wanting or needing more
No one believed them
It did not matter to them
It was too unique
It was too special
For spectators
To understand

He lived his life in pencil
She lived her life in ink
He did not understand her
She could not comprehend him
Still they decided to write
Their lives together

He felt lonely
For the first time
In a long time
Maybe the first time
In his entire life
He did not know why
Unless it was her
He felt accepted
He felt important
He felt unique
He felt he mattered
When she was there
Maybe lonely
Meant he loved her

f your life is driven solely on concrete proof
You miss the vibe that someone loves you
You miss the hunch that you should try
You miss the gut feeling that you need to leave
You miss messages you need to listen to
Follow those unjustifiable feelings
Go

Once an avid reader
Every book she picked up
She failed to get past page three
Before her mind wandered
To darker realities
She was forced to read daily
On computer screens
Back on the shelf went her book
Perhaps for another day
Another month
Another year

He created his own world
Of thoughts and theories
As a defense mechanism
Preventing emotional connection
The words I love you locked out
Of the nature of his conversations
He denied loving her so vehemently
His heart did not even know it
She did

Your analysis
Your estimation
Your assessment
Of the stranger
Sitting beside you
Means nothing
By comparison
To that strange
Feeling in your chest
From the toxic energy
Permeating the room
Wisdom lives in us
In unexpected ways
We must listen
For survival

I have forgotten
She said with a far off look
How to remember

Blend your hopes and fears

Into possibilities

Now go grab your chance