Dark, rainy skies,

But warm summer breezes.

Pumpkin patches and hay rides,

Apple orchards and Halloween.

Warm, cozy drinks,

Thick, comfy blankets.

Scary movies and candy corn,

Rom-coms and popcorn.

Bustling, cheery festivals.

Happy, laughing crowds.

Sunflowers and scarecrows,

Hay bales and jack-o-lanterns.

You are my whole universe.

Give me the words I am craving,

Tell me what I am longing to hear.

Your soft, sweet whispers seep into my skin.

They enter my bloodstream like a drug,

And get me high off your love.

You create caterpillars in my rib cage,

That become the butterflies in my stomache.

They dance and flutter everytime we touch

Your fingertips give them stength,

Your lips give their wings color.

And with every kiss,

There is a new song written in my soul.

And every hug,

Creates murals across my heart.

My love for you flowered into a garden,

Filled with roses,

Thousands of roses.

But roses have thorns that draw blood and bring pain,

The way a love like ours does.

But our love is perfect.

It was written in the stars.

Like a thousand constellations,

Telling our story.

A story that is too sophisticated for the simplicity of words,

And can only be told by the beauty of a star.

All the pages of all the books in the world,

Couldn’t tell you how much I love you.

And of all the words in the world,

Your name is my favorite.

It rolls off my tongue so easily,

And crosses my mind at every moment.

I say your name over and over in my head,

Whenever I feel alone.

Your eyes are an abyss,

So deep and so wide.

I look into them and I’m gone.

I’m drowning, sinking,

I can’t breathe.

But it’s fine because it’s you.

Your smile is a key.

It unlocks my mind,

And locks our hearts together.

They are intertwinned,

Like winding vines.

Our hearts will beat in unicent,

Forever and always.

Always connected,

And always in love.

You make me feel beautiful,

Like a girl in a brand new dress.

You make me dance and sing and twirl,

And you teach me,

Teach me how to look at myself as beautiful.

I love you.

You are my sun,

My earth,

And my moon.

You are my whole universe.

Burning lungs,

From poisoned air.

Acidic smell,

In a world so bare.

Oil spills,

Ruined the waters.

Economy recession,

Lead to selling you daughters.

A failed government,

Not stopping the shooting.

Too many senators,

Working with Putin.

While we were denying it,

The ozone layer tore.

Homes being destroyed,

During somebody else’s war.

Children taught about rainforests,

That existed long ago.

We gave up on flowers,

Because the bees had to go.

Difference of opinion,

Caused World War Three.

Global warming killed crops,

Then we ran out of seeds.

Animals going extinct,

Left and right.

Families starving,

Because money is tight.

And now I look down,

Upon world so bland.

I think of the past,

When it was our homeland.

It was once,

Such a beautiful place.

Until it was destroyed,

By our human-race.

We can never go back,

Because of what we've done.

A place we once called home,

Ruined by everyone.

Crisp, harsh, piercing winds.

Pale, white, blurry storms.

A kiss of ice placed at the tip of your nose.

Silence in a world of white.

Perfect pieces of the world around us,

Fall from the sky.

All different, yet alike.

Warm, cheery sounds escape bustling acquaintances,

Rushing by through the stark cold.

Heat from abundances of cocoa swarm senses,

And the first taste of a cherry red candy cane gives chills to it's recipient.

Beautiful, wild feelings rush in a snow globe come to life,

And love is present in the air, as well as the eery cold.

 My eyes open, only to feel the  intensity of a pitch black night,  weighing down my thoughts.  Oh my thoughts, there are so many. They swirl around in my mind like a tornado, threatening to crashed down upon everybody else.  They all scream at me,  vieing for the attention, for the chance to become ideas, habits even.  Intelligence can be dangerous if not used wisely.  I learned that later that day as I attempted to use my newfound knowledge of the world to become all powerful.  After waking up and discovering that I knew everything I felt like I knew nothing.  It made my mind weak to have so many different thoughts and so much knowledge.  I knew everyone was thinking and it was killing me inside to know what they really thought about me...what they really thought about themselves. I couldn't help them because they couldn't know that I knew it all. It was destroying me.  I knew everybody else's fate,  and when I couldn't warn of them made me cold.  I became the human being that my newfound knowledge had warned me about all those years.  I was a evil, manipulative, vindictive human being, that knew everything but wanted to know nothing, because it destroyed me.  The grief was followed by a hunger. A hunger that nothing could fufill, but the need for more knowledge and more power.  In the end, I let it destroy me, because I couldn't live anymore as long as it felt like I wasn't living.  And having that much knowledge, it didn't feel like I was living. I didn't expect anything anymore because I knew it was going to happen. There's  no surprises. Nothing exciting. Everything became dark and gray.  Eventually my mind became overruled by unbearably powerful thoughts. My mind exploded into a thoughtless oblivion. And I let it. I was done living in a world where I couldn't live without my overly, intelligent thoughts interrupting. I was done. So I said goodbye and welcomed death like and old friend. 

I met you in 2nd grade,

When I was the new kid.

My best friend introduced us,

She said we'd end up together.

4th grade came,

Along with a crush.

Our brothers shared baseball teams,

That's where it all started.

Still crushing in 6th grade,

Turns out you felt the same.

It took me two years to say yes,

I was always scared of commitment.

September 8th, 2015,

Is when you and I began.

August 29, 2016,

Is when I made the worst decision.

September 8th, 2016,

You let me back into your life.

You make me feel whole,

Thank you.

A+K 9-8-16

I feel more used than loved.

No has ever really loved me.

I am useless.

Now switch used and loved.

I am broken.

You have destroyed me.

Like a rose without thorns I am defenseless against you.

Against your words.

You took my heart in your sweet, soft hands, and nurtured it.

You healed all my cuts and scars and bruises.

You made me feel loved and protected.

I fell in love with you and with your kind essence.

I let my guard down.

You broke down my walls.

You made me feel whole.

You saved me and killed me at the same time.

You were the best and worst thing that ever happened to me.

Your love was like a rose.

You let me pick you from the garden, your beauty mesmerizing.

Then without a second thought you made me bleed with your wicked, yet graceful thorns.

I opened up to you, and you kept more secrets then I could count.

You manipulated me.

I believed in our love.

The love you threw away, along with my broken heart.

You tricked me.

I cared for you.

I told you things.

I gave you all I had.

I did your dirty work.

I kept your secrets.

I stood up for you.

You never did anything for me.

Your love for me was just a mirage.

An illusion I was stupid enough to fall for.

Your dirty, manipulative, clever trick.

You opened up my soul, then you went through and vandalized it,

With what had mistaken for art,

A mural etched into my mind forever and always.

But I’m sorry my love.

I will fall for your tricks no more.

I am no longer your puppet.

I saw through your act and cut the strings.

So farewell.

Go find someone else to manipulate. 

I’m done with you.

You aren’t the puppet master anymore.

Love,                                             The One That Escaped

00:02:36:18...17...16. On the bus I watch the numbers on my wrist numbers go down. The ones that have been there since birth. Two hours, thirty-six minutes, twelve seconds. My heart beats against my chest. I'm trying not to hyperventilate. I can't believe it's happening today. I'm actually gonna meet my soulmate in two hours, thirty-five minutes. Mom said to just act like it's a normal day but this morning she made sure to get me latte with an extra shot of espresso. All morning people had been asking, "How are you?" "Aren't you excited Alex?"  I don't know how to answer.

00:00:56:47...46...45...44. Its 2nd period at school. Everyone in my class knows why I'm so anxious. Even my teacher.

00:00:32:26...25...24. I count down the numbers etched onto my wrist until I can't bear to look at them anymore. I think I might be sick. It's 3rd period. That means it has to be someone I this class. Who is it though?

00:00:12:05...4...3. I'm internally screaming and I can't breath. How will I know who it is? Everyone says in those last few seconds it's you're being drawn towards them and then when you touch your chest glows, like your heart lights up inside of you, its light too bright to be contained. I try to focus as the teacher rambles on about global warming,

00:00:03:42...41..40...39. We're still in 3rd period. I make eye-contact with my friends across the room. She knows why I'm shaking.

00:00:01:31...30...29. It's time. This is really happening. I can feel it. Like an invisible rope it pulls me. I stand up. 00:00:00:58...57...56....55. I walk forward, letting the invisible rope pull me. I'm terrified. No one else stands up. Who is it? 46...45...44. I walk to the door. Our class is silent. I open the door. There's no one there. 00:00:00:32...31...30. Where are you?!? I let the rope take me across the hall. My class watches from the door. Then I feel a sudden tug at my chest. My invisible rope pulls me forward and I take off running. I run towards the street. I star running across. I don't see the car but he does. The boy across the street . He screams something, But the pounding in my chest blocks out all the noise. Then I see the car. The one coming right at me. I can't move a sit rushes towards me, unable to stop in time. All I know are the number. I don't have to look at my wrist to know what they are. 3...2...1. There's a flash. Everything goes dark.

Am I dead. I must be dead. Is this what it feels like. All I can see is light. It screams at me, enclosing me. Suffocating me like a blanket. I can't breathe. I can feel it starting to fade. Now I feel them. Not light. Not death. Arms. I feel the wrapped around me. Tight. I open my eyes, not realizing they'd been closed before. I see him. The boy. He saved me. The world was going in slow motion. No. It was stopped . All except for us. Well, except for him. I was still frozen with fear. His arms no longer around me, he shoves me out of the way. I realize what's happening too late. He can't. He can't die for me. As I fall to the side of the road, Things start to move again. The car is one of them. I grab his arms as everything-the car, us - comes back to life.

When I wake up, I see him first. He's in the bed next to mine. We're in a hospital. My arm and ankle are bandaged and I'm in pain all over. But I don't look half as bad as he does. he's cut and bruised all over and his rib cage and shoulders are heavily bandaged. A nurse comes in. My parents and another couple are trailing behind her. I close my eyes so they think I'm still sleeping. I don't feel like talking. The people with my parents must be his parents. I'm still drowsy from the IV so I can only make out a few words.  "Nicky... legs...never again... Alex... doesn't know." Nicky. His name is Nicky. He's my soulmate. And he saved my life. I fall asleep knowing it's a debt I'll never repay.

When I wake up again, my parents are by my side. I tell them what happened. I ask how Nicky is. They exchange concerned look before telling me. Telling me what I did to him. The love of my life. Someone I don't even know.

Paralyzed. He can't be. The weight of the word crushes me over the next few days as I think about what it feels like to know you'll never walk again. Maybe one day I'll have the courage to ask him.

I talk to him as often as possible. We're usually both sleeping most the time, but sometimes we get a moment. I love him. Everything about him. His eyes. His smile His voice. I love that he doesn't hate me, even though the accident was my fault.

He'll never walk again. But legs or not, we love each other.