[and I miss you everyday]

three years ago [this morning]

you didn’t wake up

and I will never be the same

Cemetery

flowers

fake flowers

blooming flowers

flowers that were once alive and now are withered and

dead

dead. 

flags

American flags

military flags

flags with little sayings on them about angels and heaven

stones

stepping stones

gravestones

stones with the same little sayings about the same little things

names

family names

baby names

name of the surviving spouse, birth year only; awaiting death to be joined with love again

your shrinking, dilapidated stone has none

of the aforementioned 

accessories

I cannot make out any characters 

but the one-eight-six-zero

I think next time

I will bring you some flowers

living flowers.

Don't you realize that He has the power to break the door down?

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. 
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, 
I will come in and eat with him,
and he with me.
- Revelation 3:20

But He comes to you 
humbly. 

And I Know That It Ended

I'm not so sure when it started
but I know that it ended
last week
when I told you I wanted
something else
and you said "okay"
and kissed me goodbye.

And I know that it ended the next day
when we talked about how
this is so much harder
than we expected.

And I know that it ended the day after that
when we didn't talk at all -
I just sat at a coffee shop and wept.

And I know that it ended on friday
when you took my order
and our eyes did not meet.

And I know that it ended last night
when three a.m. forced us apart
through weeping and fear.

And I know that it ended today
when we ran out of things to write about.

I don't believe in
fate

but if I did

our lives would
exemplify
its destinies.

meet me at barnes & noble

meet me at barnes & noble
if the world ends

i'll be waiting
somewhere between
poetry
and
romance

cross-legged on the floor
expecting you
every minute

and we will live off of
young adult fiction
starbucks
and words

like we've always wanted to do
anyway

we'll start with the classics
and work our way to more obscure titles
choosing the most appealing covers first

and when we get bored
which we won't

we'll venture to the children's books
and love every moment
until the end

Reasons To Go Home

Because you can run
the entirety of the town
at 9 p.m. on a spring Saturday
and not have to move out of the way
of a single moving vehicle

as if it's all yours.

Copeland

It's crazy about Copeland, huh?

How in that moment
we were undoubtedly together

yet also
remarkably
distant.

Kind of like right now. 

Twenty-Five Reasons Summer Is Going To Be A Time Of Refreshing

• vegetables, herbs, and watermelon
• front yard flowers
• hammocks
• an unending summer reading list
• back yard fires
• morning runs
• color runs
• sister time
• unearthing yard sale treasures
• mom and dad
• home cooking
• garden salsa
• jars and jars of pickles
• taking fresh baked bread to my aunt
• neighbors
• sunshine, sunburns, and sun-tans
• summer small group
• a new set of high schoolers to love
• erin and marybeth's summer road trip extravaganza
• some serious camping 
• being barefoot
• faith bible camp
• all of the concerts
• jefferson bethke 
• Jesus

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun. -Ecclesiastes 8:15

it's the hashtags

it's the hashtags

the damn hashtags

and the words

no one likes hashtags
and
words

all the people who like the poems hate the hashtags
and all the people who like the hashtags hate the poems

....except us.

yeah.

i get you. 

since feeling

since feeling is first
guard your heart

while Spring is in the world
love with all you've got
recklessly, unrelenting

and kisses
.....and kisses

Don't cry

it's complete surrender

don't regret it,
k?

and I won't

and you won't

and we're shaken

and death i think is no parenthesis

Elevator

Through tear stained eyes
I see him get on
and select floor number six

Please don't talk to me

Please don't talk to me

Please don't talk to me

"Is everything alright?"

He asks, as if he truly cares

And in twelve seconds
I explain my world

"I'm sorry. I hope it gets better."

And I think he actually meant it.

hashtag english three-sixty six

english three-sixty six

has become this semester's salvation

and I do not know how a class can save

but it can

and it is

#divergent #yoloingwithinreason #twitter
#blackoutpoetry #teachermom #silentsustainedreading
 #thosepeoplethough #buttons #silverhair #lucy #wildcard #eng366 

“What you remember saves you.” 
― W.S. Merwin

sexy

when did
sexy 
become an appropriate word
to use to describe a
seventh floor
girls
communal bathroom

and why are all of the lights
off

the way you

the way you 

unashamedly 

play your harmonica

in the midst of an

april snow storm

gives me no choice

but to be a slightly 

better person