We all have things that linger
like ghosts
in our minds

And there is no switch we can throw
with which to drain them from ourselves

This, is how a heart breaks.
A hairline crack
up through the center

so subtle
you barely notice, at first,
that it’s dividing.

but with every beat
the crack rips deeper,
more crooked,
it never breaks clean.

and your heart must never stop and so,
you must endure the pull
of your own pulse,
as it tears in two

and there are days the ache
is unbearable,
where it seeps out
from between your ribs
and gathers, in the hollows of your throat

And I want you to know, that it’s okay
to fall inside yourself

for the pain to beat into you
like a cold, heavy rain

it’s ok, when you’re breaking,
to not feel alright.

I promise you that someday
you will

Trees are not just wood, stuck to the ground,
they’re the Earth breathing

and songs are more than variations of wave pressure,
they’re every feeling in our head, taking flight

Spring is not just a placeholder on our calendar,
it’s all the birds flying home

and you are more than your body, and your experiences,
you are the light inside them

The universe resides
in constellations,
on your skin

and I’ll trace my fingertips
like brush strokes,
across your stars

I’ll lose my breath
in the galaxy
that is your heart

And all the words I cannot say
build up
caught in my throat

quiet rocks
at the bed of the stream

stubborn and unmoving
as the river carries on
without them

When I was younger there were parts of my world that bothered me. I wasn’t sure how to face them, and before I knew it I had built a room for myself in my head

It had windows but the shades were typically drawn. Sound didn’t carry in so well from the outside, but in it were all the words and books and songs that I loved, and possibly the world’s most comfortable couch

As I got older, it got easier and easier to slip in and out of that room. It became more and more reflexive, like blinking, or breathing. The way your heart beats without you ever asking it to

And I work hard most times to keep myself present. But every now and then, maybe I’m near the end of a stressful day or in heavy anticipation of something to come, and I’ll be in conversation with people I care very much about, and it will occur at some point to the both of us that I haven’t heard anything they’ve said at all

They get frustrated and offended and say this makes them feel like they’re unimportant to me, that I don’t care. But that’s not true at all. And I don’t know how to explain to them where it is I go when I can’t hear them, even though they’re standing right next to me.