Words of War Spoken by Veterans

Darling, you're well familiar with war
and how to win the final battle.
I love that you fight for our country

But some days your heart wears camouflage
and dammit I wish you'd fight for me. 

They say
.

And I picked up my 22' the night my soul met yours.
Ready to fight for something you once called
"The start of something glorious" in cursive handwriting.

Like a pen, your fingers know the hold of a gun,

And you picked it up ready to fight beside me.

you definitely hit an artery,
And I'm slowly bleeding to death
with the words " I miss you."
coming from bloodstained lips.

You’re a well-trained medic In war, known as 68’ whiskey…

but it's going to take more than a tourniquet to save me now.

Because...

and I miss you like I imagine all soldiers miss loved ones. but I can't write to you, till I know you miss me too, Because,

And I need your whole heart in this beautiful war.
Ready to die for the possibility of eternity
but ready to live for endless kisses, and morning sunrises.

We both know that 

but I can tell you, I'll be the best battle you ever fought. You aren't the type to back down from a fight, So I'm asking you not to put your hands up in surrender unless they're ready to meet with mine in the process.

And maybe I'm writing this
 in hopes of remembering the taste of you.

Because I'm overseas,
and homesick for you.

hoping that the words,

are spoken from familiar touched lips.

Everyone knows the best part about war,
is when soldiers get to come home .

but they also  know the battle will never be truly over. 

So come back to a war worth fighting for, And maybe  we'll return to each other as better people. because trying to fight it with who we are now... is a battle we're bound to lose.  Fight for me passionately. and I promise to do the same for you.

Writers Find Beauty In Everything

Tonight I sat on the cement  and watched my neighbor 

as she tenderly picked up her dog whos soul was as old as hers.

but, how beautiful their love must be, since they're all each other has.

I closed my eyes and listened closely

to the natural song the wind chimes made.

How beautiful ears must be to those who cannot see.

I smiled as I saw a young dad out of breath,

His son racing down the street who was learning to ride a bike.

  

How beautiful it is when something as easy as the wind in your hair can make you feel free. 

It was the simplest of nights.

  The sunset faded before I could look out my window,

and the stars couldn't be seen through the thick clouds.

But if I can find beauty in the most ordinary things...

Then

Surely

I

Can

Find

The 

Beauty

In

You.

even when your soul starts to fade, and your stars in your eyes can't be seen.

Because darling,

You are far from ordinary. 

Will You Stay?

Sunsets long for an audience to love their limited beauty,

 I hope I've captured your eyes enough to make you stay.

But darling, this is midnight, and the colors have faded silently.

I lay awake, searching the dark sky for burn marks where colors once danced.

and although fire still burns bright long after the world falls asleep.

I'm scared my love for you will burn long after yours turns to ashes.

Sunrises  are meant for people with hope in their sleepy eyes

and I guess it's time I start becoming a morning person.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I walk barefoot on sidewalks

and my socks rarely match when worn.

My headphones are my best accessory

Yet my best feature is the color my eyes turn when I cry.

Rain is my favorite soundtrack.

I let it ruin my hair as I walk to its music.

Sometimes my heart strikes lightning

Yet I'm not great at biting the thunder that rolls off my tongue

I'm a risk taker when it comes to my heart 

Its 3 dimensional and loudly beats on my sleeve

It's only desire is to have fingers run over the scars

and kiss the stories behind them perfectly with their lips 

Yet your hands are still far to distant from mine. 

Poetry is like an art museum, I visit as often as I can

Imagining the  words as patterns of raindrops on my window. 

I still like writing by hand more than I like typing with keys

Yet I still haven't filled enough pages with blood

I like to sit at the piano and play old memories

They come at the tempo of 6/8 with a metronome

I smile as music comes from my small fingertips

Yet my biggest regret is the day I left the bench

I love summer dresses, and smiles in-between kisses

and romance is traced in the pigments in my skin.

I'm shy at first impression, and sweet on your tongue

Yet my hazel eyes sure know how to burn your soul. 

Mix Tape of You and I

Girls dream of boys giving them a Mix tape

And you and I started one the day we met.

In cursive handwriting, you wrote a list

of the songs you were dying for me to hear.

Eric Church, 

Eli Young Band 

My Chemical Romance

Johnny Cash, 

Tracy Chapman, 

Angels and Airwaves

These were your picks that added to the list.

Ed Sheeran

Gregory Alan Isakov

Were your favorites of mine.

You never knew I watched you  as titled the list "Thinking of Her."

Only, we didn't realize it was only the beginning 

of  a compilation of music simply titled "Love."

And we fell in love deeply, the playlist became our background noise.

and our lips seemed to fall in rhythm to it as we kissed to its beat.

But sooner or later, every song on the list ended.

And in march you took the playlist with you,

not sure anymore of the music it once played. 

I held on to every note, and every measure

and held my breath as I listened to the lyrics alone.

I took a sharpie and re-titled the mix-tape "Why?"

And its questions and fear played on repeat for months.

But that didn't stop me from replaying the music we once made. 

And I didn't dare push the skip button. 

I wonder the moment you heard our playlist,

the moment you remembered it's beauty.

Was it playing in a grocery store?

or play from the radio in Truck 120? 

Did you go searching  for the music?

Hoping to find me in the words?

I saw you for the first time yesterday,

since you left me with the soundtrack of wonder and doubt.

But the ambient noise was  silenced

the moment the spaces between my fingers 

Were filled with yours.

And for the first time

Since you left I understood...

As scarred as your hands were,

Their spaces longed to be filled too.

And the nerve endings were revived through our fingertips

enough for our veins to carry love to its chambers,

Where it felt at home.

Our hearts came to an agreement

distance felt cold on our lips

Maybe that's why you kissed me at first embrace.

and why the mix-tape voices stopped.

 in that moment, I realized quiet was the most beautiful sound.

Girls dream of boys giving them mix-tapes.

And yesterday you silenced my fears,

and gave me the playlist titled "stillness."

It's the best gift you have ever given me.

Blind Pilot

We kissed in a crowded room.

After midnight, beneath closed eyes.

The touch of your lips beneath mine

Was vivid.

And it took the oxygen we didn't need.

After all, it was only a dream.

I awoke feeling lightheaded,

my mind spinning in circles.

But from the kiss or the absence of you...

I don't know which.

I wonder if the sand gets tired.

tired of being harshly tossed on the shoreline,

it's fragile pigments scattered in chaos.

I wonder if the waves get tired of crashing

and a life full of constant ups and downs.

Does the sea ever long for stillness?

Darling, you and I are the tide.

Science tried to define us as the rise and fall,

according to the gravitational pull of the moon.

And I admit, scientists are experts on logic.

But they never account for the hearts behind it.

So maybe the gravitational pull is our heartbeats.

Because the waves and sand belong together.

Even in ups and downs.

Even when we wish for stillness.

Our ocean may be made of salty tears we've cried,

and the rubble of sandcastle memories torn down.

But please don't forget my love,

The dance the waves and sand know,

and makes them forget about stillness,

The dance that's beautiful enough to be called art. 

 Because we belong together.

And I'll wait for the gravitation pull of our pulses

to bring you back to me.

The tide can only stay apart for so long.

And I..... will wait for you.

And I'll Write Your Name

I've never wanted to hold words.

To have my veins wrap around letters curves.

I've never wanted phrases sewn on the surface of my heart.

and the cracks in between.

And then I met you, and couldn't just skim your pages. 

I couldn't just read every word either.

For you were a story full of pictures.

And suddenly I was an Art Major.

And fell in love with every shade of red that painted your heart.

Even

            The  

                        Darkest 

                                       Shade.

I've never wanted words to echo on repeat,

Through my headphones and to my nerves.

I've never heard lyrics that made skin dance at it's melody.

Then I told you I loved you.

And the music it made as it echoed in your voice was a concert.

And I became a music major, falling in love with even our silence.

Because even that deserved an Encore.

I became a history major when I fell 

in love with your scars and laugh lines

And how they appeared.

I became a medical major when I fell asleep to your heartbeat.

I listened to it break and wanted to be the remedy,

The one that fixed you when you flat-lined.

 --^--^--^-------------------- 

I never thought I'd love math.

and I didn't until we fought. 

I fell in love with solving our problems

and having someone worth fighting for. 

Now, my declared major is English.

I'm falling in love with blank pages.

pages to be filled with conversations,

between your heart and mine.

pages to have ink splattered on

filled with our artwork.

Pages filled with notes and sheet music

from the concerts we attend

Pages filled with the biography written

starting the day we met.

Filled with medical histories 

of the heartache we cured in each other

even pages of math problems

You and I had to learn to solve.

Because English majors create.

And I can't wait to fill blank pages with you.