I.

Crisp, green grass kisses the icy, grey sidewalk

and your hands trace my spine with a rhythm you seem to have memorized.

The warm breeze caresses the last of the frost covering the leaves

and I can feel your chest rise and fall with each breath you take.

Butterscotch ribbons of sunlight tangle with the clouds,

embracing the Blue Jays and even the Earth-worms,

as you gently push my hair behind my ear.

The changing of the seasons has snuck up on me again,

much like you have;

you are the abnormally beautiful spring day

that ended my perpetual winter.

II.

We moved slow like rain on a windshield

and I don't know how we got here,

but I've fallen to my knees, praying we never have to leave.

III.

Do you even miss me when I'm gone?

Gosh, I miss you like the ocean misses the shore,

but you don't care, do you?

IV.

I was afraid to sleep at night because the sheer thought of you threatened to invade my mind,

to soak throughout my body until rest evaded me fully.

I hadn't driven my car in two weeks,

being alone was the furthest from what I wanted.

I was already so alone and I could still see your damn handprints on the dashboard,

the door-latch.

V.

I look for signs in broken bottles and half-eaten pizza crusts,

in splattered rain drops and sleek white cars,

in every penny lying face up and every knot left untied.

All flicker without meaning,

a sign for this, a sign for that; haunting contradictions at best,

weaving themselves around my throat.

Will I ever be able to breathe again?

VI.

I fell off of my bike and I scraped my knees,

and I laid there bleeding for a while,

but now my knees have scabbed over and I'm not afraid to get back up again.

VII.

Full patches of my heart have stitched themselves back together.

Everything's something suddenly,

every taste I savor and every scent I inhale feels like the first,

my feet seem to know what to do even when my mind doesn't.

The dark is, in fact, dark, but when the light comes it is absolutely blinding.

VIII.

I danced around your edges for so long,

I forgot what a strong one I was on my own, I don't need you.

I hope when you hear my name your breath catches in your throat; watch me bloom.