5. if you're reading this, i love you

i love you.
yeah, you,
the one with the
pretty eyes.
oh wait,
there’s so many
with the pretty eyes!

what about the one
with the beautiful hair?
oh, there’s a lot of them!
all of your hairstyles,
so different,
yet so perfect!

okay, this’ll narrow it down:
the biggest sweetheart:
the one with
the heart of gold.
they say that
only the most special people
have the golden hearts.

wait what?
all of them are gold!
every single one
has that gold heart
they all talked about!

they must all be amazing.
how can i tell
all of these people
that i love them?

or do they figure that out
on their own?
maybe, they don’t need me
to tell them
how amazing they are,
because they have the gold hearts.

you only get the gold heart
when you do good things.
they must’ve done the good things
and they probably know
that they’re loved…

but i’ll say it anyway:

i love you, gold-hearted ones.

4. you

you’ll probably never see this
and i might be wasting my time,
but i write to express
the thoughts in my head.

my love for you
can’t even stop growing.
every time we lock eyes,
i can’t help but notice
your pure perfection,
your beauty
that just seems to
grow each and every day.

and it’s probably not healthy
to be this in love,
but i’m head-over-heels
and i’m not ashamed.

the littlest things remind me
of the times we’ve spent together:
a simple love song,
a picture on my phone,
such tiny things
warp me right back
to those special moments.

and i’m hopeless,
stuck in a state
of endless devotion,
and i feel like
i’ll never be with you,
but i don’t love easily,
and i’ll probably never find someone
as special to me
as you.

we don’t talk much now,
i don’t want to be in the way,
you have things to do,
as do i,
but i’ll never leave you,
i’m here if you need me.

you’re the el to my mike
and my friends might laugh
because i’m so cheesy,
but friends never lie,
so let me tell the truth:
i’ll give all my love to you.

promise.

3. lips are saved

we’re all too eager
to have that first kiss
and we’ll take it
regardless of the human
on the other end.
we see those
in seventh and eight grade,
lips locked together,
others made fun of because
they haven’t felt that.
kissed less at 19
than some have at 14.
hell, 19 hasn’t kissed at all.

because his lips are saved.

saved for the one
that steals his heart,
not just the first girl
to look him in the eye
and say “kiss me.”
no, his lips are for the one
that he gets to know,
sees as something more
than a pretty face,
the one that
wants to be with him,
sees the best in him,
looks past his flaws
because she needs him.

and he needs her too.

but he’s in no rush
to pluck one off the street,
he’s got his life ahead of him,
and so what
if he hasn’t had a kiss yet?
there’s too much to be happy about
for him to worry
about something so minuscule.
too much magic to make,
too much love to spread,
and one day
19 will meet the one
that he will fall for
and the love will be endless.

he’s excited about it.

2. birds

one simple school day,

didn’t see many things special…

well except for the birds.

they were flying all over the place,

around campus,

on the train,

in the street,

even on my phone,

and my computer,

it’s hard to dodge.

they held hands,

kissed,

hugged,

laughed,

they were happy,

madly in love,

and i’d be lying if i said

i didn’t want love like that,

i can’t say i don’t long

to hold you in my arms

and call you mine,

but i wonder,

am i ready?

they say to love others,

you must love yourself,

and i most certainly do,

but do i love myself too much?

do i come on too strong?

am i too honest for my own good?

“i like you,”

should i drop it like that?

give it to them right away?

it’s really tough

when you’re a wimp like me

in search of her.

remember that volcano

from the pixar short?

what was it called again?…

lava, that’s the one.

he sang for years

to the one he loved,

but she couldn’t hear

because she was underwater?

i feel that,

that volcano is me.

those nights in my basement

just blasting sad songs,

will she ever hear them?

is she, too, underwater?

when will she come out?

will i be like the volcano

and not find love until

i’m about to drown?

because we don’t grow back like him,

so that love won’t last long.

i’m being really mushy

and some might cry “unoriginal”

but i want to meet her,

and i want her to be the one,

but apparently,

me doesn’t want me

to get into that yet.

ah well,

i’ve waited 19 years

and still haven’t locked lips,

what bad will a few more be?

i promise, i can wait.

1. five different ways

i’ve always wondered,

how can one say

“i love you”

in five different ways

without getting called

“trite?”

how can you

show your affection

without feeling like

you wrote down

the exact same thing?

it’s a challenge i wanted to take,

because everyone needs

some of it.

we live in too much hate

and we feel too much anger,

what’s wrong with a little love?

and it didn’t help me

that when i first got

into this stuff,

i only brought up

the bad in the world,

the bad in myself,

the side of me that

no one really wants to see,

they want me to smile,

they want me to be happy with life,

“happy matt’s a good guy,

he should stick around for the show,

i’d love to know him a bit more.”

so why don’t we

forget all the hate,

just for a minute?

why don’t we go

and tell someone

they mean the world to us?

we don’t have that long

on this earth,

time flashes in an instant,

we might as well

enjoy that time

that someone has given to us,

and love is the first step.

let’s try to say

“i love you”

in five different ways

without any fear

of being repetitive.

well, one down…

all my love preface

my next poetry project is called "all my love." this one was a "mini-album" that would hold over until my next full-length "album." with this one, after "freedom of the verse" was more moody and sad, i wanted to see if i could write an album entirely about love. i wanted it to be a bit happier than the last, and love seemed like the perfect topic to talk about. here's what each poem is like:

1. five different ways - here, i address the question of "is it possible to say 'i love you' across multiple poems without feeling like you're treading the exact same ground?" this was one of the last ones i wrote for the "mini-album," and i knew from the jump i wanted it to be the starter.

2. birds - a story about an onlooker observing others being in love, told through "birds." it plays on the term "lovebirds," and our onlooker watches the "birds" and yearns for the same amount of love.

3. lips are saved - this poem discusses the stigma of having a first kiss. a 19-year-old has kissed fewer people than a 14-year-old, but he's not bothered by it because he's abstaining until he finds the right person to kiss.

4. you - another poem written about the person i had a crush on. it talks about being shamelessly in love and being able to fully acknowledge that love.

5. if you're reading this, i love you - i dropped this phrase across my social medias, and this poem doesn't discuss "love" in regards to relationships: it discusses love in regards to genuinely caring for others. it talks about loving the people in your life that are genuinely good, kind-hearted people.

half baked

remember when i wrote that poem
where i randomly capitalized letters
and they formed a Hidden message?

it was pretty Exciting stuff,
but now i Look back
and i Probably wouldn’t do it again.

but Maybe it’s just not for me,
Exactly why i did it, i don’t know,
it’s Possible that i was
just Looking to do something
more Exciting than just
writing About a feeling
or, like, Something
written by Everybody.

but I
don’t Need
anything Extra to help me
go off and Eat while i
write these Dumb little poems
that no one will See,
scroll past and just Leave…
i’m talking about the Exact same thing
that i talk about almost Every day.
i guess it must be really Pertinent in my life.

GOOD NIGHT