Working-class man

To begin my ordeal
I’ll paint a picture of you
You’re neither black nor blue
A crescent grey by the San Francisco Bay
That’d be a delightful trip to take with you
With you, with you, with you
Holding hands on cobblestone with you

You’re stoic and you’re handsome
A beautiful display
Of a man that gets up in the morning with a set path on his way
Though distractions have come
He has tried to ignore them
Sometimes succumbing to crisp avalanches of boredom
But he always gets back up
He’s got things to do
People relying on him
His assets, his skills
He earns hundred dollars bills
Shoves em in his pocket and moves on to the next routine
Sometimes he’s kind of keen

Part two is where he hides himself from the people that love him
And at times it looks like he thinks he’s above them
But he doesn’t have that problem
He doesn’t have that problem

The fiber glass of the doorway shuts and he’s surrounded by mahogany walls
He feels like he’s there again
Back there
Confined
He feels like he’s going there again
Unsaved
He feels like within time they’ll take him back and there will be no way out now
Clerks are answering the phones
Men are in their suits in their offices
Surrounded by the mahogany walls he begins to grow sick, like something vile is to come
He picks up his briefcase, adjusts his tie, and says
“Just another day”
Just another day in the stratosphere
Just another day when you and I are not near
Just another day when I have nothing to fear
We tell ourselves
We trace our fingers on the bookshelves
We know we’re all going to Hell

His steps echo in the empty parking lot from his tan work boots
He wishes for complete silence
End the noise
In the car he drives, screaming at other drivers over lane changes and out-of-state license plates
Sprinkled with some of the most darling grand performances I’ve yet to see, to his indie pop burnt CDs that play on the stereo
You wouldn’t know it was him
That’s why I love when he lets me in
A part of the show, a guest within
The whole thing, he does with a grin

Oh if dancing was a sin

He swallows pills without water
Doesn’t read the labels
I keep my observations close
They’re my little secret tales
He doesn’t want me to be serious
He doesn’t agree that I’m lucky
My arms around his waist
I tell him please don’t love me

Please don’t love me
If dancing was a sin
We wouldn’t read the labels
We’d dive right in
Where we belong, that’s right
Keep you up all night

That’s the feature film
Good night, you’re still my dream
I can still hear you scream
Though to me it’s like a calm river stream

I keep my observations close
These are my little secret tales
Endless wishes for you
That you stay neither black nor blue
My heart goes out to you

Cobblestone freedom

I feel like table-salt
Spilled
Over and over and over again

I’m in California, baby
What are you calling for, I ask like we’re playing chess
Don’t worry about me, baby
I have it all figured out
From my eyes to the top of my mouth
I live in the South
Where it shines real nice and the boys walk with their bare backs revealed so I can gawk at their shoulders
Mmmm shoulders
Stop laughing, you’re going to make me want you
We don’t want that cycle again
I ended up upside down in a ricochet
I really hated you but I could never

I’m alright, baby
I’m put together like cobblestone
In some parts you can see my bones
The kids whisper in each others’ ears
When I am near
I have a tan now because I go to the beach
About twice a week
And after I wash myself under the city showers
Dripping like silk as the water falls down my legs
Untraceable
Not parched
Smooth like lemonade

I miss you on Thursdays
Those are the days when memories replay of us watching the live concerts on the television
And dancing in the living room
Me with a cider in my hand
Apple, always
Feeling free with you
Always for you and always with you
Free

Civic ’04

I’m definitely in shambles
I want to be cooler
I want to know what you see in her
And how closely or how far apart that is from what you perceive of me, which I believe to be a blur
Are you really getting to know her?
Are you attached, at the hip?
When she talks a lot, do you fail to get a grip?
Do certain words slip?

I’m not interested in that
As a matter of fact
I’ll close my hands over my ears if you ever do tell
For I really don’t want to be overwhelmed
I’m so much more fragile than you think
Sometimes I know you’re at your brink
I see your bones and your ship start to sink
But you’re not mine to take care of, I think
No longer mine

Peach fuzz on my arms
Cherry on a cake
I go through my head counting every mistake
I grill it, I bake and I bake
My delicate hands start to shake
It all starts with you
It all ends with you
I don’t want all of it to end
I don’t want to be blue
My words are always misconstrued
Goddamnit can’t I tell you the truth
I won’t say it, I won’t write that rhyme there

You’re on your own
Tough skin and bones
Let’s see if you can act like the tough guy you think you are
Playing like you’ve got a gun in your trunk and ammunition to spare
You think I’m blissfully unaware
Falling for your smooth moves
After all this is the life I choose
Your hands on the wheel, we cruise and cruise
Many times I’ve wondered if we’ve engaged in abuse

Is that my decision to choose
To stay, to love, to keep
To heal, most of all
To hurt, myself in the running but perhaps you too in ways I don’t know yet
Talk to me like a grown man
Don’t let the blood flow over the edges
Be a man and breathe in when I pour hydrogen peroxide over your fresh red gashes and wounds
You can scream if you want to
You can shout at me, at god, at the nonexistence of any heavenly entity
You can express whatever it is inside of you that’s been eating away like aphids on growing flowers
I see you decay and I want to wash away
Your fears like butterflies
Turn them into bright tangerine skies
Rest your head on my soft thighs

So honey, please stop with the lies
Honey, stop with the lies
This may come as a surprise

My decision
To heal, most of all
Just give me a call
I don’t have to be yours to be important
That’s all

xx,
Elle

Downtown

I think I’ll win this race but I’m beginning to feel outnumbered

How do you do that

Feel like a crowd of people when you’re a singular identity at one point in time and space

I think it’s the lilacs
You gave me
Lying on my kitchen table
That I need to cut before they suck all of the humidity out of this room
They’ll follow through
And you won’t get it
The reasons
Why anxiety will fill me to the brim
Flower girls exist at every age
They don’t ever sleep
The data’s misconstrued

A dinner date
An avalanche
A boiling hot pour of tea
A boy dressed in white and black
Honestly my favorite sight to see
And it’s all for me?

Poison, dark and heavy
In a laundry hamper
An empty and luxurious perfume bottle
That was saved for a special event

Diamonds and ice cream
He slowly opens his mouth
To say words unreasonable for the evening
But so charming for these whereabouts

I think I’m going down
I’m definitely going down
I think I’m going down
I’m definitely going down

Closer

I am alone
Monotone
Disgusting rib bones
A new body I fit in but don’t acclimate into just yet
The outlines wide and far-reaching
My heart fervidly beating
I wish it wouldn’t
As if it couldn’t
I wish you’d call my line
You’re keen as mustard, you’re wretched too
Corrosive and apathetic
Your neutral palette aesthetic
Don’t make me hate you
Don’t make me hate you

I felt loneliness last night
Tried to drink more but the fruity margarita started to make me want to vomit
No pills to take
No medicine for me
To accompany my newfound state
I basked in it
Hugged my dog
Thought about where I went wrong
Thought of the woman I want to be– hopeful and strong
Who wills wishful thinking into action
Positive diary entries
Tending to roses in the garden
Watering her plants correctly and on time
Correctly and on time
Correctly and on time

And you weren’t ever mine
A belonging- to be the property of
I’d huddle inside your jacket, in the crevice of your arm to feel like a small part of you
Feel like I had you by my side and that wasn’t changing
Because- ?
Undetermined clause
A six figure check
One button undone
Cheek kisses not specifically asked or gestured for, but given for free
A bike that was stolen
A tree that was planted
Our whereabouts unknown
One vintage photobooth for two
Becoming closer than ever and not acknowledging it in any way, shape, or form
“My condolences to your mother”
My wish to you, please don’t leave me

Correctly and on time
Correctly and on time
Don’t make me hate you
Don’t make me hate you