Fiveohsix.
Not like monetary statement
pesky decimal interference
or place value mysteries
in a fourth grade textbook
lost to a tenth grade mind
No, more like
5:06
More like
Get some sleep
More like
"No I can't"
More like
Patterns brushing under black
haloes of eyelashes
and the arch of your back
and the glow of the screen
It's like
your fingers move so fast
you forget the structure
and that's how you bring yourself
to down another glass of sugar rush

With you
It's always 'you' and 'them'
And it's always something that
isn't soft
isn't pretty
isn't witty enough to be contrived
isn't sharp enough to be real

It's always something
split up to sound better and
a little less 'poetic justice'
and a little more of this
More caps-free ventilation
when the corset comes free
and the sky undone
A little more chocolate milk
on a stormy night
when the internet's down
and today's already tomorrow
in that 'but it's still today' way
When your eyes look down to the board
and yesterday is caught between the keys
stuck beneath fingernails
you forgot to cut.

When yesterday meant
something
something like
poetry that rhymed
and choruses on-key
When yesterday meant
you knew the difference
between a clause and that other thing
you know. The one you were tested on
and probably passed
only to pass
to toss
You care that much
You care so much
today.

Today means
the sugar rush got the better of you
the third cup of chocolate milk
dinner on hiatus
breakfast on the way
Today means
whatever song it was
with no name, but a fucking awesome hook
and a chorus where half the words
got stuck between the keys
Today means
keeping your eyes open
one more time
Today means
"I promise I won't do this to myself again"
so promise you won't
promise you won't do this to you
again.

The veins
are textured on eyelids
overhanging eaves
You feel them with your finger
Imagine them
glaring red
Nothing a good night's
sleep can't cure
but when's the last time
you had time
for that?

This is a fucked up kind of love
and you love it.

And with you
It's always you
It's always 'you' and 'them'
but today
it's already tomorrow
and today
it's just today
and today
you still can't get the pronouns straight
je tu il elle nous vous ils elles on (and sometimes y?)
unless it's something obvious like me and you
and today
that's easy
like algebra before the fractions got tossed in
like english before soulless got perfect
like science before... nevermind
like you
before me
like me
before you
and today
and today
and...

In case you haven't noticed
when I say you
I mean me
and when I say me
I don't know what I mean
Except that we shouldn't be up another minute longer
but here we are
here we are.