last night I started counting all the stars on your arms
and drew freckled constellations that were named after parts
of our dark frictioned bodies that we weren’t afraid to mention
then I traced them with fingers that were placed with safe intentions
when she slipped through my hands like sunny silky sand
and the slam of her door was almost more than I could stand
as I felt like I was melting in the glance that she had dealt me
I’d have kept on storytelling ‘til my tongue turned to jelly

black shadows that we cast were forming patterns flickered fast
and dripped ashes in my hourglass that I wished would never pass
but as the seconds slowed to frozen I had missed the golden moment
of sunrise in her eyes that reflected off the ocean
I recalled the time we drank more alcohol than saltwater
from the spray of the waves as they crashed in our bottles
but I should’ve not cared and crept lightly down the stairs
swept the hair from your lips and slept the night with you there

Perspective

I close my eyes tight as I hold my breath
I can feel the tide rising through the hole in my chest
my blood is flooding compartments unplugging arteries regardless
of harming the starving artist that resides where my heart is
a part of me is pardoning my lack of alacrity
with every page of this story I age like Dorian’s masterpiece
recording a portrait for the historians after me
faster than the past can catch me in the act of catastrophe
I close my eyes tight as I open my mouth
I can read every guideline that I’m throwing out
my brain is patiently silent and blindly flying autopilot
I lost sight of the signage ‘cause I forgot to codify it
it’s a science I’m fine with but can’t design it myself
or tell a spell as binding as the titles lining my shelves
the spines are vibrantly reminding me to pause when I’m lost
and take a walk across my mind to find the cause of my flaws
I close my eyes tight as I spill the words
I can hear them highlighted in unfiltered bursts
my tongue is running young dumb and numbing some
it’s either hungry for love or just wondering where it’s coming from
a clot I unblocked and I am hopeless to control it
like I’ve opened Pandora’s box of potent emotions
so I cope with this paradox a pair of drips and oceans
I will drown you in the sound when you just want to dip your toes in

[sample: Stretch Your Face by Tobacco]

Unfiltered

Music video: http://youtu.be/I72uGZEmmRk

tell me about your shitty day
and I'll listen up until three AM
are you just another pretty face
in a dream I can’t seem to see again
with every week that passes by
I'm burning you into a new mixtape
so when I'm yours to cast aside
I'll pop it in and play my mistakes
I'll trace faint patterns on the map
from my backyard to your bedroom
I passed out on the path I can't take back
to us napping on our last afternoon

slowly she will fade
but now I'm fine because I know I'm not
lonely while I wait until the day
I cannot picture the face I forgot
with traces of her secret smile
the one you can't stage in photographs
although this change may take awhile
in some truthful way I kinda hope it lasts

is there a lesson I should learn
about sunset leading to sunrise
if love and loss will ground me to earth
I’ll pay the cost to hang like a kite
we sit content in each other's space
but I'm trying not to break and show
the what-ifs that race throughout my brain
just wait one month and I'll be alone
someday I will figure out this mind
that disconnects me from my mouth
I can't block the awkward thoughts inside
my head shaking as I watch you walk out


Memory Foam

well I know it sounds strange
and it’s hard to explain
but there’s something in the way that your cells are arranged
that my brain can’t give up
inside I can’t get enough
it’s like our chemicals have mixed into the world’s strongest drug
it's not love it's just gravity
it's your magnet that’s attracting me

it’s the feeling that we’re free
when the others think we’re lost
it’s the beauty that I see
when you’re conscious of your flaws
it’s the fleeting misery
within the squeezing of our hands
it’s your deepest mysteries
that I will never understand
it’s the secret that I keep
it’s the weakness in my knees
it’s the pieces left of me
that feel good beneath your feet
it’s our chemistry

well I know it’s not as strong
as a covalent bond
but there’s a force that l notice the moment that you’re gone
it’s your kaleidoscope
revolving me colliding both
biologies to form an organism that my heart can’t help following
we’re not lovers we’re just scientists
we’re discovering what physics is


Chemistry

I am made up of elements
morals taken from my stories into present tense
and I’m breaking down to rebuild myself
into the hero in the dreams of somebody else tonight

once there was a girl who flashed like lightning in the dark
and blind I started seeing stars and crossed our wires sending sparks
from her bright irises like fireworks exploding into arcs
but soon it also lit a fuse that’s burning quickly towards my heart
it's hard to know when it'll blow because my love is slow to grow
and I am slightly too nearsighted missing fire where there’s smoke
the ash is catching in my throat my rash reaction is to choke
so I hope she’ll pat my back instead of stab when it’s exposed

once there was a girl who crashed like waves upon a shore
and every grain of sand was waiting in the calm before the storm
the rain was racing down my face but vain I prayed for more
to pour and strain my patient frame ‘til I’m breaking from the force
of course I never learned to bother making work of storing water
so the hotter that we got the more I lost ‘til I forgot her
but she taught me how to ration my attraction from a dropper
still a stopper couldn’t block my passion after it was offered

once there was a girl who sprouted out of mountain dirt
and soon she bloomed in fertile bursts of purest beauty from the earth
in search of farmer's gardening to tend when men desert
and in the end her worth’s determined by how much my heart is hurt
but first I held her in my hands like simple seeds that I could plant
in better soil not yet spoiled by greedy deeds of common man
I dreamed of swinging off the branch into her leaves until I land
beneath her tree in greener scenery believing things she can’t

once there was a boy who mostly coasted on the wind
and all the ghosts who floated past reminded him of his old friends
and girls who opened up then closed so he could focus and begin
to master fragments of the chapters that were scratched onto his skin
with pen and ink like clues tattooed to mend and keep his memories
he’s expending mental energy for peace of mind and sleep
but in his dreams he sees a steady stream of strangers yet to meet
and treat like beauty none have equalled until truly one agrees

Elemental Breakdown

this is a tongue-untied mind I'ma try on for size it fits
it's an itch I gotta scratch on like my life is psoriasis
quick get me light relief the type a sight for sore eyes is
a sunrise in my mirror like it's designed in your likeness
I'd rather chase the horizon than signs in sequential bursts
the furthest sequins I seek when I find a sea-quenching thirst
if my solution is music I’ma need a whole lab for it
I can’t fit all my muses inside a chemical cabinet
racing rats in a maze trapped and my mind is a labyrinth
an elaborate cage as if it's crafted by masochists
timing patterns in patchwork my brain is fabric in sew machine
sliding forward and backward to fix when stitches keep opening
this spoken word is choking up my pathways with dopamine
it’s how I cope with bad days in a slow motion social scene
I’m coasting through each moment I can't focus on hopes and dreams
most chose the simplest template I just rewrote my programming
so it seems…
 
(I’m gonna be okay
why you messing with my head)
 
this is a prism of myself a prison cell for my skeletons
empty shelves of mental health I'm selling out of my element
I started hard as carbon carved and finished as gelatin
but can't outsmart my heart with artificial intelligence
so I tighten my diaphragm dining light on my diet plan
time the synapses firing like my wiring diagram
the higher the better I'm never not optimistic
when writing artistic letters they're only one from autistic
I'm often off in my wisdom teeth cut on optical misses
envisioning the taste in places I opt to visit
I listen when I hear crickets hidden in daily cacophony
pick my brain with precision a quick outpatient lobotomy
apologies for shocking lodging forks in the sockets
‘cause my philosophy causes a constant pausing of progress
possibility’s calling I block then back in my pocket
I'd sooner fall to prophecy than following profits
I promise…
 
(I’m gonna be okay
why you messing with my head)

[sample: Be OK by Too Far Moon]

Labyrinth

I love the way your eyes can hypnotize and radiate blue
I can't unsee the skies as vivid lights in gradient hues
I once was colorblind my other life was gray before you

whether we're lovers or not friends I thank the stars that we met
I've wished a hundred times on them but you're too hard to forget
'cause I was hungry for more then and now I'm starving for less

I've learned a lot about true love and how its medicine works
we spoon our sugar long enough to vow for better or worse
I'd write the things I'm thinking of that can't be said in these words

someday I’ll see you at a dance wearing a silly white dress
they’ll play that love song with your name that’s always stealing my breath
I hope I'll catch your eye and fill you with old feelings I've left

you burn brighter than the stars
you blaze like a bonfire that’s warming my heart
your colors turn commonplace scenes into art
you’re the best part of everything

Artsy Heartbeats

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