Your optimism is your greatest virtue
But hope is a grenade clenched in my fist
To speak my mind will only hurt you
So my confession dies behind sealed lips
I worship your beauty from a distance
I brainstorm a hundred synonyms for love
I pledge my armies to the resistance
And pray this fragile happiness will be enough
But it’s safe because you’ll never see
the poems I scribbled in the margins
the child’s prayers and devil’s bargains
made in secret on my bedroom floor
safe behind my heart’s locked door
You’ll never know why I weep at midnight rain
or why yellow chrysanthemums trouble my brain
for I’m not your dream girl
I’d never fit inside their place
but in a crowd of thousands
I will always find your face
I will not tell you unless you ask it
So my mouth shall be a dreamer’s casket
But if you want love, could it be me?
Wouldn’t I be lovely if you could see me?
