313

And did you really try avoiding it?
Or do you still wake up here every day?
If there's another option tell me why
birds sing to you in mornings
whether you're awake to hear it or not

312

I put a wall around you
and ran as far as I could before you got over

I ran too far,
there you weren't, along with the rest
of the people from where you and I lived.

Did I get too far, or go too long?
You knew the only place I could trap you
was inside my home.

311

There was always something I could say
until you told me I had
twelve hours to get to Singapore
from my upstairs apartment
in downtown New York

310

Nailing the cabinets back into the wall
the day after I ripped them out
and all the contents on the floor

was I think your best punishment so far.
When you hung up the phone I screamed your name-
I'll make sure when you get home it looks the same.

You can have the credit for how pretty the kitchen is
but not for the broken wood that once covered the floor.

309

In February I planned
to swim out into the ocean to show
everybody that I know that something's wrong with me

Then in the morning with the sea through the window
the room was cold
and I stayed in bed.

308

In the beginning, there were rows
of houses spaced evenly.
I watched the people coming and not asking
if there was a better way it could be.

307

I met you once at a wedding
of someone I once knew
to someone you once knew.

Where were you when you heard the news?
I couldn't make it to the funeral,
I hadn't seen them anyway
since I'd gotten a job and left the state.

By the look of it you've never been to this bus stop before
and neither have I
and someone I knew was once in love
with somebody you knew