A Lesson in Conditionals

If I am the rhythm,
then you are the lead.
If you were the cymbals
would you crash into me?

If I am the chord,
then you are the riff.
If I was the stereo
would you have to push all of my buttons?

If I was a neck,
would you pick me apart?
Would you write me a
pre-chorus and post-breakup,
a post-breakdown?


I’m always at my cutest when you’re not around to seduce.


You are the wait.
I am time it will take to get back to this.
If you would cross lines,
then maybe I could stay.

I am the clasp.
You are the puzzle solver.
If I am the pillow chasing forfeit,
then you are the lip, twice bitten.

If I was the breath,
would you lose to me?
Would you measure me in holds or catches,
or would you just take me away?


Aunt Em, the chickens are gone!


If I am the zinnia,
then you are the sun.
If you were a sore throat,
I would be your chamomile.

If I am a waffle,
then you are the sweet tooth.
If you were the claw game,
I’d be the teddy bear that you won. Finally.

If you are the smile,
then I am not the face
that can get whatever I want
and some that I don’t.


Let it go girl, he doesn’t even know why you’re mad.


If you are the question,
then I am the hours
that you spent mulling over a solution.
You are always a question…

If you are the rust,
I am always the tin can.
If you are the awkward situation,
I am consistently the laugh that bails you out.

I am the bandaid when you skin your knee.
I am the inbox when you say hello.
I am the sift when you lose your heart in the sand,
Will you be nothing but my goodnight kiss?


He would never drive that distance for you.


I cannot be held accountable
for these things that I wish,
for fantasy is but a battlefield and imagination a tool.
If my eyes are the weapon,
then this lyric, your defense.

If I am the morning,
then you are the absence.
Next to me a list
of all the perfect words
that you never said, that I have yet to write.


I will never go back to Kansas.