The Pick-Up Artist

The pick-up artist
Watched me
And picked me from
The rest
And with the lines
He'd memorized
He wrapped my heart
In twisted vines
The same that he
Had used before
On all the other
Girls who wore
Down to the planned-out
Schemes he set
From practiced moves
From books he read
He calculated
All I was
To see how he
Could make me bend
He used up all
The tricks and plans
To try to make
Himself my man
To break into
My very soul
As if I'm like
An entered code
He treated me
Like all the rest
Although I know
I'd love him best,
Give all the love
He'd hope to get
Too bad for him
I tore his net
The one he had
Laid flat for me
To set a secret
Trap for me
Although I was
For one blink caught
I quickly saw through
All I'd bought
I shook him off
With just a scar
And got into
My get-away car
To go back to
The place I live
Where people love
And people give
Instead of take
(As he did best)
Now he's on
Another quest
To maximize
His benefits
I wonder when
He'll realize this:
That inside girls
Are beating hearts
And in the end
He'll fall apart.

L.A.

Everyone is dressing up
Screaming, searching
For a face
To look at them
Not look through them
And tell them
They are worth something;
Worth a breath
Worth some time
Worth one glance
Or anything
I am here
To tell the world
Everyone is
Priceless.

The Story Of A Pen

Today my pen
Ran out of ink
I ran its' dry tip
Back and forth
Trying, hoping
It would run
In elegant lines
Once more for me
But after a while
I found my pen
Had finally
Run out of life
No haiku, song or limerick
Would I write again with it
Then, after time,
Had passed a bit
I came back in
Determination:
One more flick
I clicked the cap
I was surprised
To see a line
Black and curving
From its' tip
Alas, my pen
Had risen again!
I wrote the word
ALLELUIA
And this poem
Is the proof
That my pen
Has been renewed
Also, something
I have learned
From a pen,
So small
Is that people
Are like ink
When you may think
They're too far gone
Give them one more
Flick of faith
You may find
You were wrong.

Hannah

Hannah said today
With her 9-year-old
Brown eyes
That she didn't like herself
As she stared down at the floor
It cracked my heart in half
And tears ran, swift,
Behind my eyes
I looked at her
And tried
To show her why
She's beautiful.

Frozen In Your Veins

You could be
An astronaut
You could be
A poet
You could be
A lion-tamer
Or anything,
I know it
But right now
You are not yourself
Life is frozen
In your veins
So when you
Come out of this
I will be here,
Waiting.

Art

Don't give up
This thing you love
Just because
They can't see
How you hear
The way the world
Tilts its' head
And feels the sun;
There's magic
In your
Art.

With You

Don't come near
This healing heart
This fragile frame
Of just-built woodwork
Don't remind
This mixed-up mind
Of all the thoughts
And mem'ries he took
Just step back
Let me heal
Let me slowly
Mend my wounds
Let me just
Get back to me
Cause it's so hard
When I'm with you.