The Plath Path

I'm on the Plath path
Head in the oven
Pushin' and shovin' on up to Jesus
to walk where Lady Lazarus walked
Ted Hughes ain't got nothin'
on the way my heart beats
to the flow
to the heat
of Sylvia
and her commission to rhyme
so sick it's a crime
not for feminists
or literary critics
or anyone who thinks Daddy is a happy rant about dancing on tiptoes
I'm on the Plath path out
to meet this lady upon poetic prisms
where we can chat about
the tulips, and the morning song, and the shitheads
who put us at the top
the Plath path out
to the countryside
where I'll ask why, Sylvia, did you fry?
We needed your stained glass eye
to shed some light on why people cry
flags of truce
dangling white and loose
till they tie it up in a noose
because no one will agree to disagree
but you were a little more creative, yeah?
baking the sweetest knowledge till it burned
too long on the fire charred rungs
I'm on the Plath path to show you
how your poetry drives me
bird out of a cage free
mad
like personal letters to carry on
they're in my backpack
knapsacked forever in my mind
because out of the ashes with my red hair I rise
for the hell of it
staying relevant
I'm on the Plath path out
to meet you and personally reply
because you wrote to the future; a case of Mcfly
come back in your cadillac to the future
and nurture
your good ole pen pal from 2011
we could've been best friend
the oven and Ted and unpublished alibis
would all be misunderstanding
simple
like sugar
I'm on the Plath path to adventure
to strive for this to be heard
even if you get it attached to a bird leg
like back in the day
I'm diggin' on it going your way
so maybe someday
we can make a lunch date, Sylvia
and we can eat cold plates
because of how head sedates
and put you where you're at
I'm on the Plath path
because, Sylvia, I need a logical lady friend
to explain why
the sky hasn't fallen yet**

love in retrograde.

To call you a whirlwind would be an understatement
I was swept up faster than any broom and dust pan interaction
As a felt a more than fatal attraction
my reaction
was equivalent to walking face first into concrete
Yet being pleasantly surprised by how much you enjoyed it
I am scared
I am scared
I am scared
of the butterflies you give me
because I thought the ones that were in there before had found a way out
or fossilized
I criticized them
for being gone
but they weren't
as I feel them come alive
every time the creases around your mouth paint dimples
and your grin spreads like light from the sunrise
making the sky turn from filtered shade
to stained glass
it was so fast
Like knocking the wind out of myself
as I fell
reminding me of my sixth grade kickball team
except this time
I actually got something out of it
My heart began to edit short you and me movies
of adventures we'd make
out on unknown lakes
or baking cakes
or making the best mistakes
you make me feel like taking a risk to live
because I've always colored in the lines
but I'm ready to make them disappear
wishing you were here
at my side
wishing distance would abide
to love at first sight
because even if there was the slightest chance it might
My dreams of the kiss I regretted not stealing the moment I met you
might come true
though it might've been kind of weird for a stranger to kiss you for no reason
If I could rewind
take back time
I'd walk up after a wave
like a sultry pantomime
I wouldn't say hello
I wouldn't let you know who I am
except for the red in my hair
and the clap of my heels on the wood floor
"J'adore"
I'd whisper
pretending to know French
though I don't, to any extent
I'd aim to impress
searching for success
in your eyes
silently saying
luck is a lady and she could be yours
as I sit down next to you
never leaving baby blues
as I stare
gaze never leaves
den of theives
and I go in for the most magical unspoken meeting
of rose-stained lips
then we go back to witty quips
and with that
regrets would never exist
I wish
that you would meet me in my dreams tonight
though you don't live where I might
It could be love at second sight
It could be love again tonight
as I start to think I'm sick of it
as I start to complain of this heartsick shit
as I start force pairs that will never fit
I quit on love
I quit on fits
I quit on lonely
I quit on this
then you walk into my life
and all I can think is
Shit
I got myself right back into it
Because you might think you've quit
when in reality
you're in the middle of it
Thinking you're moving on
moving forward
when in reality
the footprints are in front of you
as you move backward
Love in retrograde***

Paranormal Activity

I have never been more proud of myself
than the day I successfully avoided crapping my pants
while watching my first horror movie
These hollywood creations
build a media Frankenstein
over paranormal proxy
that repeats plots and characters
until you've watched the same movie eight times
I should know this
and yet I am the most fun to watch
as I squirm and whimper in my chair
thinking "why did you go in there?"
Hiding in a grave might be kind of stupid
thinking that chainsaw murder should never be shown in 3D
I rock back and forth
and hope you realize I did it all for you
My heart's got Paranormal Activity around you
Because I would willingly watch children's souls get eaten
to be in the same room as you
Because even if you have to bring Freddy and Jason along
on a date
I'd gladly hold your hand
so you'd have a running mate
I would scream
making cheesy camera shots
saying "hello? hello? hello?"
over and over again
hoping that the killer might
say hi and ask how I'm doing
Instead of slashing me with a rake
I would endure ketchup goop
dribbling down my face
for one sticky kiss
before I go
then you'd get eaten by Kujo
we'd had a good run though
till the last minute
Electricity
in that paranormal activity
or maybe we'd last
in huge body casts
talking about how we met over murders
and receiving flowers and cards
from Hannibal himself
describing the body parts on his shelf
that he'll soon dine on
with some fava beans and a nice chianti
and I'd bust out of my bodycast
become a badass
wielding a gun
 have my old name undone
and changed to Clarice
as I kick down doors
defying horror movie whores
and never being the first to die
and 28 days later
you'll say you Saw into my heart like Jigsaw
and found your Final Destination
because my Descent
didn't cause my femur to jut out of my knee
straight up bloody and gory
but I did fall head over heels to my doom
trapped in a room
with my bloody valentine
Your love is Insidious
as you tiptoe through the window
and even if we both end up in a demon's home movie
I'll be glad you're with me
like Velma and Shaggy
wish you knew that you had me
Because when you're around
I've got an irregular heartbeat
Paranormal Activity
and even though these movies end badly
I won't let you and me*

Blue Eyed Beauty

He was the blue eyed beauty of a generation
cleansing grunge
with his raspy rants and lyrical lies
He hid behind yellow braid possibilities
and little bags of pixie dust
that cost him more than he could pay
one day he didn't wake up
the world knew him for teen spirit
that would now be all that was left of him
as his Peavey amp static
spoke for him at the funeral
books of handwritten prayers
lay on apartment carpet
reminded of him in vain
who knew Nirvana meant heart drain
and cocaine
and love pain
and blood stain
and Cobain
He was the blue eyed beauty of a generation
After he crossed the threshold
no one could shut up about his perfect smile
while no one said anything about it
on the day to day
He was a soccer star
and honor roll hero
and popular with the ladies
like any other jock
walking halls in socks and Adidas sandals
on game day
he hid behind high school fame
he hid behind a name
he hid behind the very picket fence on his face
straight
fake
then his roommate entered the dorm
after a long day
swung open the door handle
noticing it was cold
on his hand
then he looked up
and so was the rest of him
because there he was
the blue eyed beauty
heart drain
love pain
blood stain
in vain
dangling from
broken dreams and unsaid prayers
as he only saw himself through circus mirrors
flawed
back turned by God
as everyone else hears the same damn
Peavey static
emotional attic
where light reaches its limit
We lift candles like it's all we can do
though none of them hold a candle to you
because the wax drips down
and we realize how much
we lock up
by not saying anything
because even though that wax seems passive
it stings like acid on your skin
as you let secrets drip down and
do the same
choosing not to say
choosing empty days
choosing walking death
aspirit breath
before you shut away
'I love you's remember
He was the blue eyed beauty
outside high school fame
inside Kurt Cobain
Don't judge the book by its cover
it's never the same
as the unspoken prayers
fill lines and pages
decomposition in different stages
hardbacks still crack
as blank sheets
fall out like a sign of surrender
Remember
He was the blue eyed beauty**

YOLO

You make me want to wear bright yellow
thinking I should walk down the street
catching eyes like I've got killer bait on the end of my hook
turning heads as if I were some kind of
natural disaster
I wish this would move faster
because precautions make me banter
on how fearlessness is my life
I don't have a basement for emergency shelter
No.
I don't have a food supply.
No.
I don't have a boat to paddle out should New Mexico flood.
No.
I don't carry cautious crap because I am fearless as a Wright brother
defying laws that could kill me
at least if I die
I'll land in the sky
and the stars won't ask why
they'll just move so that I can take my place
I am fearless like a firefighter
running up flights of stairs
knowing about country affairs
dying for the free land they share
for people who, the day before, didn't care
I am fearless
because tomorrow isn't mine
there's no plan to assign
because when I go to sleep
I evaluate
whether I filled my plate
or showed my lesser traits
or made my life sedate
I won't settle for a Left for Dead life
walking through with no purpose
waiting to die
No.
I will be the one who created it
not talking YOLO shit
because I'm no two-bit hypocrite
because why would I waste time
doing something that reiterates self-hate
when I could be first-rate
change the world by my breath intake
and each work I spit will inflate
the flat
so you'll know just where I'm at
I'm not sitting where you sat
because I leave my own footprints on
white sands everyday
I'm not afraid of the mark
I'll leave when I walk past
Don't need to keep my pimp hand strong
when I know my mind's impact
rhymes intact
max syntax
you wish that
you heard that
but I'm like the flash
words so fast you didn't even
see them hit the wall
acoustically
as you live your life stupidly
drowning sorrows in death wishes
live
not because Drake told you to
live
stop trying so hard and just do
live
because you know it too
you keep saying YOLO
but living starts with you*

Currency

I wish I was more than a lucky penny
that you stick in your pocket and forget about
because nothing is worth just one penny
I continue to burn a hole in your pocket
with your blue Bic lighter
every time you're tempted to let that penny sit
while you spend paper and accumulate more change
change for the poor
change for the broke
change for a coke
change for a smoke
you'll play quarters
till you're cornered with that copper Lincoln
dirty; so you're afraid to know
where it's been
ever wonder why we don't look at people the way we look at currency?
and currently
I sit in your thin charred pocket
currently
I sit in your version of a porcelain girl's locket
currently
I stare across the wallet at a copper face that's been
more places than me
New pennies are overrated
Because their sheen only means they're naive
about how it feels to be spent
to pay a bohemian rent
with no shame that you pay in change
because it's still monetary
though it doesn't seem necessary
you never pay with change
and you carry it like baggage
when I'm the bottom of the bag beggar
that's not begging you to spend
I just want you to see
that nothing's worth me*

I could be happy.

I wish you were my Saturday night

That I could learn how to do this right

Because I have only ever known love half-baked

No one went to the trouble to fully cook the cake

Unless it was Mary Jane in the kitchen

And he was the one who ate

Because he’d rather take her on dates

Not me

I don’t see

Pretty

Anymore

Because I have to wonder why I was second on the list

I don’t want that to exist

I want to be free

I want you to want me

Cheap trick

I’m lovesick

And lonely

Which sounds pathetic

But true

Because I have a morbid kind of wanting

A missing piece

I don’t feel desperate

I need release

I need a two hour conversation

A fortune cookie sign

For stars to align

To get your heart with mine

Because I know you get that way too

When you sit in student union pews

By yourself

I know that you wonder why

No one tries

To know you

I want to

I just don’t know if you want me to

If you know who

I really am

And I wonder what it’d be like

If today was my only lifespan

Like a housefly

Would I

Would I

Say what I need to say

Act on what I pray

Because telling you anything

Is scarier than any horror movie

Even though those freak me out

It’s been so long since I’ve been happy

In someone’s arms

Because more often than not

There are more someone elses

Than someones

I still haven’t found one

But I think that it might be you

Even though everyone doesn’t want me to

I think I could be happy in your arms

And write bad poetry

Comtemplating you and me

Like I’m doing right now

The right kind of confusion

The dreams I see you in

I just hope you’d want that as much as me

The lucky star that 7 am sees

The way you talk to me at 2 am

I wasn’t asking them

I’m asking you

If you’d see it through

I could be happy in your arms**