I remember the sun-soaked trees,

Corralled tightly in a splotch of grass

And ringed by dead stone.

A faux display of life,

A calculated sliver of verdure,

Surrounded by the city.

I remember the vibrating city

Antsy with nerves and impatience.

Ephemeral anger gone as quickly as it came,

Shouted through car horns and screeching brakes.

A metal empire, sprawling glass spires,

Drenched in a dreamy blush.

I remember the blushing sky,

How it reflected in the rear-view mirror,

Riding with us; I rested my head on the seat,

So my head was in the clouds.

A sky that held the city;

A sky that held you and me.

I remember you and me,

And that day in the vibrating city

Drenched in blush with sun-soaked trees.

I was corralled tightly in the car,

Then in your presence,

Antsy with nerves and impatience.

I remember the nerves and impatience,

How its coolness pricked my neck

And made me shiver in a crowning October.

How the pulse from my veins seeped outward

And brought a flutter to my skin

That vibrated with the city.

I remember how you disrupted me,

And how I thought it felt invasive–

Dead-ringer eyes from which I tried to hide.

A faux display of strength,

A calculated sliver of virtue,

Falling away like lax leaves.

I remember the falling fire leaves,

And how they felt like you and me.

Dancing around each other, 

Dismissing our fluttering skin,

And breezing through the vibrating city–

A swelling of words trapped in dead-ringer eyes.

A swelling of words presses against my chest

When I stare too long at your dead-ringer eyes.

A splotch of comfort corralled by fluttering skin,

A near-view mirror that brings clouds to my head.

I display faux strength, antsy with nerves

And dance around the swelling I want to say.

I want to say the swelling, 

And explain how it makes me flutter.

How it makes me want to rest my head 

In the blushing sky and feel seen by dead-ringer eyes.

How I want to be corralled in your presence,

And dance around each other.

But nerves and impatience surround me,

Its coolness pricking my neck; my pulse

Seeping outward, beating my lips dead.

Ephemeral courage gone as quickly as it came,

And I can’t look at your dead-ringer eyes.

The disruption is invasive; I have to hide.