graham, grand, montrose

how can I laugh while another cries

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graham, grand, montrose

across the world the war begins
my lover crawls into bed with the dragon in his skin
my mind unbends the limbs but
how can I love while another dies

on my ride
I find the train car you don’t occupy   
and my whole world now is countryside

from dawn to afternoon   from dusk to the rise of the moon
back and forth I practice our goodbye

if this is the last thing I ever write
remember me like everything you despised
life is funny but how can I laugh while another cries

I had to write this to tell you
the subway smelled like rosewater at sunrise

I know I know nothing            but how much longer can I hide
the world ended before I could say I figured out why

my love sleeps without dreaming         and tells me only truths

says                  guess what                                  what?

it’s the morning and I still love you

but what if I’m the same tomorrow
what if under the mask I’m still me
it’s tomorrow and the labyrinth is obsolete

my love passes a door that was impossible to see
no - love doubles back and love reopens

I am diving deep to the bottom of this ocean
and didn’t even have time to write you this poem
because the world stopped before I could say it exactly the way I’d imagined it spoken

I’m in love and I need you now to know it
how life like a flower opens in coldness
how strange fish fly deep at the bottom of the sea
and the birds he put back in the sky
swim free
just for me.

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