smitten

I’m flying above the clouds,
eyes closed and arms expanded;
I’m laughing like an idiot
with my chest about to burst
and I wonder if you feel the same,
every time my name appears
on your screen.
I wonder if I’ve put a smile
to your lips
as you have done to
mine.
I hope that your
friend across from you
teases you for your
stupid, smitten
face
and I hope that you
say my name.

say that I’m
yours,
say that you’re
mine.

gumdrop

why don’t we try something different?
you know very well how it feels to have me
like a gumdrop in your hand
or between your teeth
why don’t you get to know how it is
to truly taste me?

damn the critics who’ve rotten
your innocence,
making you believe such saccharine
bliss could never exist
without its own health complications

i suppose if diabetes runs in your family
as it does in mine
it’s best to be wary of the thoughtless, uncontrollable
consumption of delectable confections
but one gumdrop wouldn’t hurt you

now, watch as I do and place
your gumdrop against the cushion of your lips
smooth edged and firm
now, take it in with a pop as if it were
a pill– don’t swallow though

sink your teeth deep into it
and taste what it truly feels to have something
forever irrevocably yours
for I am endlessly longing to be
either on your hand or between your teeth
all I ask is for you
to cherish me

now you know

if you place a rose
and let it bloom in the sky,
it means that she wonders
about your touch–
traces of lemon
(spunk),
of blueberry
(charm),
and of strawberry
(mirth).

if you don a daffodil
and let it smile on your chest,
it means that she’s given
you a second chance–
accents of dew
(clarity),
of rose quartz
(healing),
and of olive
(forgiveness).

but if you leave an orchid
in a cardigan’s pocket
it means she has
left–
notes of pining
(for gazes unmet across crowded rooms),
of hoping
(on the accidental brush of shoulders or skin),
and of regretting
(to have done something to preserve it)

if you’re left with a flower
slowly slipping from your grasp, it means you have lost
what can never be found
 again

if you didn’t understand this before
well,
 now you know