The Advice I Wish They'd Given Me at Graduation, pt. 3

Love is an iron manacle

Forged in the heat of passion.

It binds us to our mistakes,

To unhealthy relationships.

Love is the only reason that I

Have ever spent contiguous hours of time

With someone who makes my nails reach for my eyes,

But over the years, in all of the seasons,

There've been people I liked for explicable reasons.

Spending time with them is something I choose

Despite freedom, despite other things I could do.

God likes me. God likes you.

The Sins of the Researcher

You were incandescent, illuminating, whether you smiled or frowned.

Colors were bolder, sounds were louder, flavors were stronger with you around.

I would have given up life in the sun for you; I would have made the bet

That you wouldn't burn me, that you wouldn't blind me, that you wouldn't even set.

Like all gamblers, I decided what I deserved, and that's what I got.

Like you always do, you left me to wilt, left me laughing, left me to rot.

So many years later, I don't even want to know why I believed you,

But I think I could learn something if I knew the reasons I wanted to.

Hello: My Name Is, or Teacher-Centered Student-Centering

I introduce you to the teacher you've known for half a year,
A replacement of convenience for experience and fear.
I introduce you to the teacher who should know you by now,
A translucent presence who dreams he can wow.
I introduce you to your teacher, who's a snowball in hell
Writing poorly, he would teach you and then hope you write well.
I would like to introduce you to your British Lit teacher,
Who is just about as British as a three-eagle t-shirt.
Now I'll introduce your teacher as a paperweight,
Keeping collected miscellanea safe in the same place,
In charge of little else but the intake and allocation,
In hopes that the students will learn more from their creations.

Just Limping Through

I lack the skills to teach myself the meaning of life.
I'm a conscientious objector to debating the origin of life.
I have yet to be convinced there exists a purpose of life,
But I could give you a summary of what it's like to be here—
An old injury started pinching and grabbing;
Then I saw my own pain-face in the mirror,
and now, I finally stopped laughing.

A Single Step, or Wed, Aug 20

My day cannot be programmed, categorized, or easily referenced,
But it can be summarized.
First, I said "Boom!  My work is done."
Then, I couldn't stop laughing.

I Already Did My Homework!

Love's long-timers, lugubrious students,
Are as committed as an asylum—
They have friends, and don't know where to file 'em.

Mr. and Ms. Right Now (Radio Edit)

You don't have a past you'd like to erase.
I don't have a particular ambition—
Not the way you see them, as vital, concrete visions—
So I'm betting that I will see it on your face
When you realize we're just counting down to done,
Because I can never be your One True,
and dating is only ever something I do
For fun.