Sync

For the red M&M

I wish we had USB ports in our heads,
Because then a flash drive could work on minds,
And bridging the deep and shadowed gap
Between you and me
Wouldn’t be so impossible to do.
I’d plug it into you,
Then plug it into me.
Years of secrets shuffled and filed away
In nameless yellow folders would
Finally emerge from their dusty disarray
And shine with a light only we could see.

Not a sound would be made—
I’d hear the words
You can’t bring yourself to say.
The ones you keep locked up inside and
Try to melt away and forget.
You’d know the truth
Behind the lies I tell to
Keep myself safe.
We’d play no pointless games with
A winner and a loser, but
We’d be tied at the starting line for
First place at the finish.
I wouldn’t be scared to
Fall and slide down the chute, because
I’d know you’d race down the ladders to
Catch me before I reached the bottom.

No bushes would be beaten around—
I’d stop the small-talk, and
You’d stop the jokes.
That one-way street that only goes left when
You’d rather turn right? Well
I’d learn the trick to make it a
Two-way highway that could only be crossed
If we held hands.
You’d hold the key to
Understanding
Why I now cry in movies,
Why I hate flying fists and their
Cruel matching words, and why,
When the sunrise glows crimson and coral,
My heart hurts happy.

No looks would be exchanged—
I’d press my cheek to the warmth of your shoulder,
Anchor my palm in the crook of your arm,
And you’d know as you squint into the sun
That I just want to breathe beside you because
You smell like honesty, coffee, and cold air.
You’d cradle my hands inside your own,
Hold them close around your face so
My fingertips could taste your smile,
And I’d know you tell me
Things that don’t matter
Just so you can hear me laugh.

I’d know the things
I don’t know now because
I’m too afraid to ask. Afraid because
Drawing out your secrets means
Sifting through my own.
I’m not brave or strong enough to
Learn that much at once.
Our untold stories would just stay safe
If I could only take that flash drive,
Plug it into you,
Then plug it into me,
And into you again.