I Hope.

I hope you catch me staring–
it wasn’t a coincidence that I was checking you out.
I hope you notice because I’ve been trying to think
of something clever to say to you all week,
but I’ve struggled to even get out a “hi!”
I hope you don’t think I’m weird because I was staring–
and that you instead find it flattering–
but the other way is perfectly understandable.
I hope this doesn’t come as a surprise to you
(that I love you and all),
but it probably will,
seeing as I can’t say what I want to say–
I can’t tell you all the things I’ve been dying to
since the day you walked into my life.
I hope you’re reading my mind right now,
and that you’re somehow picking up this internal dialogue–
this colossal struggle of the head and the heart,
fought in the battlegrounds that are my body.
I hope you’re smiling at me now because of something I did–
I don’t know what it might have been–
but something!
I hope that you’re single and interested but first–
I hope I can muster the courage to find out.
-ZCS

 

Image: “Because I Love You” by LOVEshannanegins via Deviantart

Devil’s Advocate.

I’ve watched you break hearts from several rooms away,
but every night I used to stand in line praying
that the next heart broken would be mine.
You play men like a loaded deck–
flashing your cards to keep them hooked,
waiting for their hearts to fold,
so you can put them to rest
with a royal flush and scandalous smile.
Teasing them with a seductive pot
keeps them coming back to gamble more–
but at a price.
Hell,
they’d pay that price just to watch you
slowly stand and lean over the table
in that hot little way that you do–
collecting their money with arms spread and eyes searching.
Instead of sampling the bartender’s special,
you like to fill up on the usual–
broken men in a crowded bar
without a ring on their hand
or a sober thought in their minds.
But not I–
I’ve stopped praying that you’ll turn my way
and fix those dark eyes on my already broken heart.
If anything,
I’m thankful that you never have.
You’re a smokeshow in scarlet–
with a smile that carves through moral reservations
like a butcher’s finest blade.
Only now the smoke has finally cleared,
and your “love” will never bite me.
-ZCS

 

Image: “In The Bar” by Olga via Deviantart

Perspective.

Close your eyes,
and listen to my words carefully.
Let them carry you away,
to a place left uninhabited by man for decades.
Picture the land–
covered in glowing green grasses of all shapes and hues.
It practically sparkles under a nurturing sun,
providing for all living things with gentle compassion.
Imagine forests of towering pines and oaks with
trunks thicker than cars and
redwoods that stand hundreds of feet above the clouds.
Imagine rushing rivers and streams,
leaping over the rolling land and
trickling down rocky formations of ancient stone.
Miniature pools begin to form,
teeming with life both visible and unseen.
And the seasons!
How beautiful the autumns and how sweet the summers,
where life dies and is born again
under a burning sun and a fluorescent white moon.
The stars–
sitting high above the trees
and the rivers and the rocks
and all the other living things–
watch life and death flash by in the blink of an eye.
Picture them streaking down from the sky,
falling to land amongst life that will be gone almost instantaneously.
Can you see it in your mind’s eye?
The beauty of it all–
the majesty,
the grace,
the spectacularity of such grandeur!
Now open your eyes,
and See.
-ZCS

Image: “Nature” via Devinatart by Rozlyn Arrabaca

Soul Search.

Look me in the eyes and reveal your imperfections.
Don’t turn from my gaze,
but instead meet me halfway
and allow me to cast away my troubled thoughts and memories
as I free you from yours.
Feel your fears fall away feebly at your feet
and let your inhibitions wane like the moon upon solstice–
for I am solace in the waning moonlight
as your heart becomes eclipsed by darkness.
When I strike the chains from your back
and remove the coiled barbs from around your ankles and wrists,
I am not doing so in search of gratification.
Instead I am looking for someone who knows the way–
knows how to leap into the flames and return unscathed.
I have been lost and burnt before,
by the One before you–
the One who made promises left unkept
and inspired dreams left unfulfilled.
Show me how to dance among the raindrops while remaining dry–
how to soak in the sunlight,
growing like Autumn’s first fruits and the trees that supply them.
Hold onto me tightly–
anchor me to your side with a loving embrace
and hold me there with your gentle touch.
But above all,
keep me captive in your eyes.
Leave me enthralled with everything that lies beneath them.
For your eyes are the gateway to your soul,
and my heart is the key.
-ZCS