Imagine

Can you imagine
holding the world
in your hands?

Can you really?

Then imagine it now
the world                  in the palm of your hands
spinning on its axis.

I want you to imagine it.

Close your eyes.

Think on it.

Block out     everything else.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Don’t read on until
You found it—feel it.

Now that you’re there:
You know how
I feel every time
I hold her.

The Universe Wants An Us

It’s not you or me, really
It’s the stars, the poles
of magnets, the hands
of the gods, the three Sisters of Fate

Well, sometimes it’s only you
And, sometimes it’s only me

But also, the tides of love, the gravitational
pull of celestial spheres, chemistry and chemicals,
hormones and synapses, butterflies and that winged boy with arrows,
pen and paper, tea leaves and tarot cards, and
social influencers, bloggers, rebels, dreamers, lovers

See, really, it’s not up to you or me

Because if the universe wants an us
Who are we to go against the universe?

Marry Me? (Song Lyrics)

[Chorus]
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Please, don’t marry him!

[Verse 1]
I want to please you in every way
I want to have you for every day
There’s just so much I wanna say
But you keep looking the other way

I’ve been looking for all my life
And I still don’t have Mrs. Right
Yet here you are in front of me
And now you’re staring right back at me

[Pre-Chorus]
If I got down on my knees
If I huffed and puffed and screamed
Would you change your mind?
Would you marry … will you marry me?

Gonna get down on my knees
Huff and puff and scream
Please, change your mind
Will you marry … will you marry me?

[Chorus]
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Please, don’t marry him, no!

Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Please, don’t marry him!

[Verse 2]
I can love you in un-forbidden ways
Just like you thought of it yesterday
There’s not too much more I can say
If you’re still planning another way

I’ve asked others to be my wife
But never asked one to be my life
What a difference a letter makes
I’ve fully realized my mistake

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Now I’ve been down on my knees
I have huffed and puffed and screamed
Please, change your mind
Marry me … just marry me!

Don’t keep me on my knees
With no voice left to scream
Just marry me
Tell the world that you’ll marry me!

[Bridge]
I’ve got no shame when it comes this
You’re like my country
So I pledge my allegiance to you
To you, to you—only to you

[Pre-Chorus 3]
I’ve stayed down on my knees
A million times I’ve screamed:
Marry me
Please, don’t marry him

[Chorus]
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Please, don’t marry him, no!

Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
Boohoo, marry me!
(Or) Just don’t marry him!

To Rule My World

You don’t need ocean eyes
or               sun-flecked hair.

Neither               a body soft
as a pillow         nor a smile
that lights up the night sky.

A figure that fits into an hourglass
A walk that sways the trees to fall

none of this is necessary.

To rule my world
it’s quite simple:

All you need to be is her.

Creative Nonfiction

I’m in the desert right now
with a winter coat on and
I’m cold.

Only you know why.

So you don’t forget me
I wrote you a new poem
for the next 365 days.

There’s no need for
you to read them, though.

They all say what I said before:
I love you and I wish
you’d leave him.

Some may think
I write this to woo
but really it’s to steal.

I’m a romantic criminal
An imposter, a fake.

I wanted someone else’s
future. That’s what this has all been from the start.

But I’m giving up here.
I have no more words
to write

so if you don’t hear from me
in the next 18 hours or so
just know I’m walking
in the desert alone
with a winter coat on
and I’m cold.

What I Really See

Not your hips swaying
to the rhythm of love

or your full lips pressed
gently to an apple

Not even your breasts
nestled into cleavage

But rather extensions
as in roots and branches

and tall family trees
with fruits overhanging abundantly

But also ceilings and walls
and floors and fences

Or rather my future
set in stone.