Today I Invented Shirtless Bike Riding.

"2010." - My co-worker at my internship, when asked by my boss when the earthquake in Haiti occured.





"12:09:12 PM"

"12:09:14 PM"

"12:09:18 PM"

"i'm still at the table"

Arms at my side

Ready to receive,

Even though you are not.

Even though you stole masturbating from me

(Don't worry, I don't want it back).

I'm still at the table.

Even though it's probably not such a good idea.

I brought my computer with me,

Though,

So I can get some work done in the meantime.

Even though you took your charger back

(Don't worry, I bought a new one--

I put it on my parents credit card).

Even though it's probably not such a good idea.

Neither was earnest Ernest Shackleton

Exploring the Antarctic.

(Even though the Endurance didn't endure).

Neither is staying out too long in the sun.

What good has ever come 

From a lack of exploration?

Who doesn't love a tan?

I'll sit at this table,

Even though there are no seats.

Don't worry.

--

I got hit by a church van on my bike cuz i wuz lookin 2 FiNe.  LOVE YOURSELF!



It's not the pain, it's the permanence.

"They are people.  They just have to love us more than everyone else does." -A friend, about parents.  

Check the rims.  Someone's mom has a small penis.

"Thinko de Mayo"

Where are all the girls I grew up with?

Where is Christina?

Where is Shakira?

Where is Britney

Or Mandy 

Or Gwen?

What happened to Jessica

Or our sister Ashlee?

Are they all hanging out without me?

Are they all hanging out within me?

--

All that is solid melts into air.

The Shoes We Choose

"Time flies when you're a lesbian." -My friend who is a lesbian.

Evidently, we have everything that we need!

I met Marina Abramovic on my way to the Freedom Tower.

"Starving in a Restaurant"

Another day without.

Another day not turning water into wine.

Another day riding uphill 

To a place I don't want to go.

Waiting to become a stranger.

Waiting to become patient.

Tip-toeing the border between want and need,

But leaning toward idealism.

Because a dog without a tail told me so.

Because I am magic.

--

We are all more similar than we are different!

There is a shortage of coffee shops in Manhattan.

"I just want to lower the volume a little bit." -My roommate, about me singing Taylor Swift music.

All I saw all day was couples making out and dead animals.

(I think this one may have died for our sins)

"Last night, I had a dream about you so vivid that it scared me."

I know you are suffering right now

She says to me

And I don't mean to make light of that.

I know you are raw

She says to me

But sometimes that is where things need to come from.

There is truth to be told

She says to me, 

Separated by miles and decades:

Connected by a silkworms thread.

And an iPhone that my parents still pay for.

It's a family plan.

--

Is there anything better then when your friend's parents like you?

(For my friend, Frankie)

"Do you know what is the best cure for a hangover? More liquor!" -The homeless man who sleeps outside the school I paid to go to on credit.

photo exhibition idea: 'People From 100 Years Ago Would Hate Us'

Flown all the way from Central America to be dropped along Second Avenue.

 How beautiful is this color?

"Trapped!"

Oh what to do

When it's quarter to two

And you've just left your house

Cuz its made you feel blue.

You go into the city

(Though your reasons are few)

And you notice your hair

Is still full of shampoo!

--

"some fish spend their whole lives swimming away"

Is there anything in the sea

More beautiful

Than symbiosis?

Just watch this

Television show about fish

And forget.

I’m a hammerhead,

Baby,

And you’re my coral reef.

Riding the gentle swells.

Riding the gentle swells.

--

A yoga teacher likened "hips width distance apart" to "roughly two iPhones." That sucks, right?

Last Day as a 22

"I think he needs to lower his expectations." - A friend of mine, about a mutual friend of ours who wants to do humanitarian work in Africa. 

People keep asking to be my friend on LinkedIn.

What is at the bottom of this staircase? (What was at the top?)

"i heard that in college, you can eat ice cream for dinner!"

I regularly put kombucha into my body.

I regularly put beer into my body.

I regularly put 0% Greek yogurt into my body.

I regularly put vegetarian burritos into my body.

I regularly put kale juice into my body.

I regularly put iced coffee into my body.

I regularly put marijuana into my body.

I regularly put reggae music into my body.

I regularly put scrambled eggs into my body.

I regularly put canned black beans into my body.

I regularly put 5 milligram melatonin into my body.

I regularly put generic zinc supplements into my body.

I regularly put Advil Liqui-Gels into my body.

I regularly put Stacy's Multigrain pita chips and Sabra Garlic hummus into my body.

I regularly put Ben & Jerry's Half Baked frozen yogurt into my body.

I regularly put oxygen into my body.

I regularly put my toothbrush into my body.

I regularly put ultraviolet rays into my body.

I regularly put episodes of 'Planet Earth' into my body.

I regularly put phone conversations with my mother into my body.

I regularly put one-sided conversations with my therapist into my body.

I regularly put thoughts that I've already thought into my body.

I regularly put thoughts that I shouldn't be thinking into my body. 

I regularly put poetry into my body.

I regularly put Sour Patch Kids into my body.  

--

there's no crying in baseball?

Building Community Through Food

"Try to allow yourself to let things matter." -My yoga teacher (who does not know that I am referring to her as 'my' yoga teacher)

Be careful around this hole!

"Every Man Thinks His Burden is the Heaviest"

I wanted to go into the water.

But they don't let you.

So I decided to see how close I could get.

First, I bought a popsicle,

Flavored 'Nectarine Chai'

(For the nonchalance).

It tasted peach.

Then I threw away the things I didn't need.

I walked down the stairs

And crossed 

The Westside Highway,

Which is no small feat

On two feet.

I thought

There must be a reason that

No one is on the pier

And that reason is because

There is a fence.

So I walked to the next pier,

Past a park I used to spend time in.

But I don't have

All the time in the world,

And on the way to the next pier

I found a bench and gave up.

I sat between 

The Westside Highway

And a fence,

Beyond which was the water.

The cars on the road behind me were loud,

The duck in the water in front of me was quiet.

I wrote this poem because I didn't know what else to do.

I left the bench

Because it felt like time.

I carried on foot

Away from the water.

But I was wrong--

Just passed the Westside Highway

I got sad again.

I picked up my bike

From where I had locked it.

I rode across the Westside Highway.

I stopped before I crossed

And closed my eyes 

To listen

To traffic.

I found a park.

I passed a friend who noticed my tears.

I sat on top of a grassy hill

Looking over the water.

And here I sit, 

Deliberating whether or not to call my mother.  

--

plans ALWAYS change.