1.

I know this boy named Oliver

he makes art

last year his brother died

we had the same birthday

that is probably something that never gets easier

like talking to pretty girls

or telling the truth

but so much

worse.

2.

When we were little

and dressed up in costumes

we were anybody we wanted

except the parents

carpools can’t drive themselves

no matter how many times

you use your three wishes

for more wishes

somebody will tell you

it doesn’t work that way.

3.

My cousins are all older than me

but that didn’t stop them from being

the smaller person

on almost every occasion

I got stuck with the Buzz Lightyear costume

no matter what the game

or how many light years away

I was.

4.

Warm leather smells like the summer

I turned 9

only when it’s warm outside

and [it’s never really] cold out

does my heart reflect the weather

like the room on the back of a spoon,

or more like my eyes

in the mirror?

5.

Did the little boy inside of you

get out to play today?

Make sure he does tomorrow

give him the wooden bow and arrow

your dad made you

for Halloween that one year

when you were sick

and never ended up going out.

6.

When I can feel the drums

in my chest and echo

in my stomach

it probably isn’t quite loud enough

have you ever drowned something

without water?

It’s easier than you would think,

you just need to be

[louder].

7.

Most pain is temporary

that’s what people will tell you

you don’t have to listen to them

put your earbuds in

sometimes

you don’t even have to plug them in.

8.

Uniforms have too many different meanings

to make them comfortable

try them on like skin

that you get to choose

pick a good one

change it out

every seven years

or when you need to

do laundry.

9.

Anish Kapoor called

he wants his mirrors back

how many people do you see when you look

at yourself

sometimes it is hard to be all of them

at once

there was a time when you were nothing at all

and there will be a time

when you will be everything

again.

10.

Michelangelo why

have you robbed the hands of each other’s

touch? Why will they never feel

the fingers that you put

just out of reach

tell me how

do you sleep at night?

11.

I watched somebody fly

too close to the sun once

luckily the air is made of hope

clouds are someone’s dreams

and the ground is made of love

so he only broke his left arm

and his idea of forever.

12.

This was made for us

she says to me, this was made for us

and no one else, but I know that is not true

because everyone was made for themselves

and most people whether they know it or not

are kings and queens of

nothing at all.