The Yellow Light

An poem i published on my other blog on Aug. 9, 2010

Jumpy music sets the beat
Around you all the youthful fire
Running, you’re running
On fumes, on nothing. You’re drained.
Nobody seems to mind or care.
I don’t know why you’re a wallflower…
You got the looks and the smile
All the pretty girls walk by
Curling their hair and sizing you up.
But you don’t even notice.
She’s waiting for you to dance.
Take her hand!
Just a ballad, a soft song.
Let her rest her head against your chest
And hear your heart beat.
Untie your tie and unbutton your jacket
In the parking lot
Leaning against the light post
Bathed in it’s yellow glow
You wonder why you don’t belong.
The dance is over
Everyone comes slowly out
Everyone goes to his or her car
To go home for the night
To go home.
Those girls smile at you
You don’t smile, you feel alone
But a boy walks by
He looks at you
You kind of smile.
Was that a smile?
But did they see you?
They don’t look happy about that.
The yellow light went out.
The light went out.

I Saw the Fire

I saw the fire! I saw it!
I felt its icy flames curl around me.
If the ground beneath me would only give out
I could fall!
But this ground is so solid,
So resistant to variation
That the inferno that rages over it
Covers it in soot, but does nothing
To change its nature.
If only I could fly or fall or die
I wouldn’t have seen that fire.
Say that you care.
Say it!
I want to hear those words come from your mouth.
And though I know they have no foundation
At least my naïve heart will rest.
At least it will rest while the world freezes over
And my thoughts are reluctantly imprinted on time.
Just in time. Just in time.
Before the fire erases my mind.
I’m weak now, but my thoughts are strong.
If only the ground would fall.