June 12, 2020

"Fuck You," But Make It Poetry

I had a dream about you last night. 

It’s like this, I haven’t been sleeping
the world is too unclear, uncertain
but in this fantasyland too, you
ground my heart to sawdust, blew
asked me to inhale it all back into 
bones that created and held 
and reserved space for you. 
What an unappreciated gift, truly. 

We were all at dinner, me and my work
you and your band of merry misfits
I likened you to robin hood, you know. 
And no, it’s not weird to have a crush
on a cartoon fox, as sly as they can be. 
You came up behind me, leaned over 
my shoulder and the intimacy was 
both too rich and too painful to bear. 
You even had the audacity to be upset
as I excused myself in search of oxygen. 

The audacity. Ha, I called you hot stuff. 
You should know that hell hath no fury 
like a woman who remains aware 
of the power she holds and still
chooses softness and warmth. 
Hell hath no fury like a woman
who remains aware of her impact, 
when all that she needs is scorched earth. 

Friends don’t let friends bleed
Until their heart runs dry. 
Then ask if they can resume 
Pumping the well after spring rains. 
I can’t believe I’m saying this to you
of all people, at this time, in this place. 
friends don’t let friends bleed 
until their heart runs dry. 
then ask if they can resume
Pumping the well after spring rains. 

I woke up at around 4 am this morning
to the sound of my own heartache, hbu. 
because you said you missed me and 
now I’m left wondering how it was all 
lost in translation, words like, 

“I appreciate you”
“Te extraño nena”
“No but i want to see ur face”
“You’re amazing”

I can’t find a Duolingo course to 
confirm what i thought I heard,
wouldn’t have assumed my 
interpretation to be so far from 
your intentions, you didn’t mean

“I see you”
“I feel the ache of missing you”
“I want this”
“I value you”

And now all I’m left with are questions

Did I daydream the whole thing? 
Read into your actions that you felt something? 

And Best self? As in, your pinnacle self?

You do realize the end of the maze
the end of the rat race is a trap, right?
that we grow, as the sunflowers do,
heads stretched towards the sun
and we navigate what life throws at us. 
As best we can. That is our best, self. 

You want to be just friends. 
Or you need friendship. 
Or both. 
Or this is a soft let down. 
Or this is your soft let down. 

I want to be with someone 
who wants to be with me. 
Not just during the best times, 
but during the worst times, more. 
Right now. These times. 
I’m scared, all of the time. 
I’m lonely, all of the time. 
I’m confused, all of the time. 
And yet, I’m still here. 
Holding apparently too tightly 
onto what’s possible, 
and not tightly enough 
onto some imagined vision of perfection.

And even then. 

Friends don’t let friends bleed
Until their heart runs dry. 
Then ask if they can resume 
Pumping the well after spring rains. 
I can’t believe I’m saying this to you
of all people, at this time, in this place. 
friends don’t let friends bleed 
until their heart runs dry. 
then ask if they can resume
Pumping the well after spring rains.