A Lost

Heave that backpack

you've got someplace to be

I know it's cold

take my gloves

I want to show you this

Hop the stone wall and land heavily

in the laden earth

leave the books down here

and I'll race you to the top

Here among the gnarled fingers

you'll find Peace

like melting snow in a hazy afternoon light

Today

My hands smell of fire,
thumb calloused from flame
lit in the darkness

The echo of fast-strummed guitar in a gym hallway
makes me feel it in the corners of my face
that thin smile I wear as I lean shyly, slyly against the pastel wall.

I was so high on caffeine and
homespun music
and the love
of friends and strangers.
I think I could love everybody here,
but I'm a stranger to them.
Their lives outside these halls are like a shattered mirror in a heavy blue summer rain,
and as I peer deeply into them
all I catch are shards
of past and present

Still, I say, I've got to say,
"Fuck people. People suck."