ASTOUNDING
Some people
are so good,
they don’t know
how not to be.
Some people
are so good,
they don’t know
how not to be.
You
come over here
and sit next to me.
It’s okay.
You’ll be okay.
You’ve got me.
You can sit
next to me any
time you need.
Even
if you have
work, skip it.
Just
come over and
sit next to me.
My arm
around you,
we’ll be friends.
Anytime
you need.
Just
come over here
and sit next to me.
Do you know when a poem
I’ve written is for you?
Can you tell by the shape
the letters take?
Are you sure of it’s tone,
that it’s definitely for you,
or you do think, well, maybe
it’s for someone else.
Someone cooler.
Someone kinder.
Someone who says what they
feel about people and who doesn’t
get tired of everyone and who
can be caring all the time.
I don’t know anyone like that.
Should I be more clear about it?
If you think a poem is about you,
it most likely is for you.
Just you.
I have class with this girl
who never acts sure of what
she has to say, and I don’t
know her very well, but
when she speaks, I always
want to reach out my hand
and say, “Great job!” or
“I’m proud of you!” or
give her a thumbs up from
across the room because
what if she’s never gotten
that kind of encouragement
from anyone before?
I have all these ideas
jellybeans in a jar
playing wall ball on pavement
when I speak, no tennis balls
come out
just my tongue
offering itself to
my hand, “hey,
cut it out!”
a mouthful of marbles
and I’ve seen the way
kings speak it is not
the feathers of a goose down pillow.
Your annoying habits
are not annoying
because it’s you.
I don’t understand all
the love you have for me.
I can only dream of
being half as good as
you think I am.
If I ever became
all that goodness
you see in me,
I would only be
half as good as you.
one time i won the lottery
it was great, and everyone
wanted to be my friend
because winning the lottery
is such a rare occasion,
an occasion for celebration
and i paid all my bills and
all my brother’s bills and
all my mother’s bills but
i didn’t pay the bills of
anyone i didn’t like
because where were they
when i was sad, before
i won the lottery?
When you send me kind messages,
I want to wrap them up and
put them in my pocket so that
later when I am staring at a wall
in a cold, projection booth,
I can pull out those words
and feel warm again.
I have learned
over the course of
my years on this
earth that humans
can recover from
pretty much
anything.
So don’t worry
too much.
It’ll be okay.
