Showing posts with label fables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fables. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

kelpy valentine's

He stares at his feet and says,
    "I think you're great",
I'm listening, I prompt, and I am.

"You remind me of my tuna fish as soon as I open the can,
and of my mother when she is baking.
You remind me of a bruised child that needs holding,
with no shame.
You remind me of a light that never turns off no matter
how many times I hit it with a hammer
And of an ice cream flavor nobody has heard of,
or a paintbrush with too many bristles."

I'm tempted to pull the fire alarm.

"My blood rushes to my toes and I kind of feel like
I have a sprained ankle when I talk to you,
But in the good way, like when the ocean licks
your papercuts.
I'm never really sure whether you are mine or
whether you are playing a pretend game,
but either way, I'm as happy as my dad was
when I finally sold my pet rabbit on the internet."

I stare at him incredulously.

"You seem like the kind of person who would
eat the insides of oreos for me,
Or maybe I would eat them because I know
you don't like them either,
And you're kind of like an eagle who doesn't
remember whether to build his nest in a tree
or atop of an electric pole.
I'm just trying to tell you that--"

He stops, because I've kissed him.