Ashes and Wine by A Fine Frenzy

scotch

cold house
and
cold room

it is christmas

and
i have gifts
to give

nobody wants to receive so

with
paper cuts
on my fingers and

plastic
bows in my hair

i  wrap
myself

in snowflakes
and

400 thread count
penguins

(for you)

while

all around me
(snow) like foam
and

the empty feel of
December 26th...

Communication by the Cardigans

hey

good job
on reading my mind and

on
the whole
loving me thing.

i guess
there's a shortage
of

qualified candidates today     i
don't care
to listen

to your reasons
anymore
boss so i

don't plan to stay
just say
the words

you know
(like donald trump) and

get your
old

white ways to

walking
out my door...

Hounds of Romance by Jody Gnant

november

the sound
of

christmas

coming
out of stores

and
my house smells
like cookies for

the very
first time in years

salvation

army people
ring their
bells

and   i

click my heels
together

dropping pennies
into jars.

warm chocolate
chip fizz seeps

in

to my soul...

Halfway Home (Live) by Jason Mraz

knock

your absence
buoys

me up

how
strangely we met

and
intersected

(i suspect)
i think
like pineapples and kismet.
i

piece things
together and
we

were meant to be.

maybe.

the turbulent old days
of summer
and the

speed of our triumphant

rise    and    fall

belies
the true meaning
of today:

you could save it,
like the

rind

of a thousand boats.

Georgia by The District

goose

the delicate blur
of

things

you have not done

i wonder
where it goes

when you cook your own turkey
what happens

to the blood

i eat it happily
(if)
i don't think

about dying.   i

dropped all
those things

(the ones)
i love

in the water
so

(close the lid),

and be happy
without me.

i'm not in focus.
(thanks, bird)
for

giving.

Can I Stay by Ray LaMontagne

shopping

i feel bad
leaving

you alone.
probably standing
by a door

holding your iphone in your hand,

waiting for me
to walk back
through the glass.

i hear
you

listen for me,

wide open for the click
of my new
yellow shoes

like a camera's shutter.

well...
i can't come tonight (baby)
but i feel
bad about it

and i feel like
dresses
fit me better

than they used to (your
eyes) and smile

the way they
come together

in my mind...

i'm sorry.

When the Time is Right by Griffin House

hyperbaric

i wake up
without

sufficient
oxygen
in the room   and

with gale force winds
forcing bugs

to crawl
succinctly
down my throat,

i swallow.
i turn over

these
flowers

are still here (oddly enough)
after

all these years without the sun.  i
wake up
without you (and)

in my dreams,

i sang all the songs.
i

keep breathing
long after
you go, honest,

i do,

but without you there
isn't anything to
do

with my lungs.
no

love.
no oxygen.
no

music.

Fireflies by Ron Pope

stoic

i have a

fascination with stone faces.
that is (probably)

why i chose you,
in large, circular part:

a big yellow smile
on
the bottom of your shoe

and
nobody sees it
but me

and only (not)
when i need it   i

back  -   track

to all the creases i made
in
my own face,

like
concrete wrinkles

firm up (tight)
while i sleep,  and cry

cracking in the rain
you are

my own plaster
of paris   and

i knew it
would be you
all along

but
you see

i have
this recurring thing.
i love

obelisks,

like you...

Let It Be Me by Ray LaMontagne

breathless

days and hours   later
my hands

still smell
of orange

my fingers
flicker like

paper birds (into my hair)

and as they pass
they are
your eyes,

like somebody
who is lost.

smelling like vanilla
i saw

your dad today   he

was pouring coffee
and it

made me remember
the food,
and the back of your

head
with its plumage   i

used to hold it inside mine, but

then it flew
away...

Won't You Come Again by Susie Suh

march 13

you remain
in my head

noise less (and)

after all this time
i see orange when

they announce
your name...

it is like
picking scabs
off my heart
while i sleep.

we will see
(how it is)   if

bikes could fly

i would walk down that aisle
and come
to your wedding

un (invited)

and i would say
i love you

in front of all the brides and
she would

throw cake in my face

because i
would have won.
i haven't
won a thing since

nineteen ninety eight.

my red victory
is starting

to fade
into

yellow...

Why Can't I Be Beside You by Adam Daniel

marigold

we fall together
like puce

and pewter, stone and ice

you never even
sang to me
but

on beaches
with other women (apparently)

you are bocelli himself    i

think your colors

are stupid -   yeah, that is
what i said, but

in reality
i really don't.
i love them. and

my jealousy glows
as much as those
stinky rotten half-gold
flowers

(the ones i've always loved)

until it is almost
as much as
i have always loved you

but

i can't say it now,
her vows are

set in stone...

Lake and Ocean by The Coral Sea

oh fur

rabbit you

fell out of my hole
i peek out
ears flapping and

i watch people walk by

they wear coats
made out
of money

and i don't care  i
need it

(something) time

and maybe one new
pair of shoes

the hair and watches spin
while hatters hop  it's

all a little bit of show to (show) me

things don't go as
planned

and life is just
a rabbit
hole turned

inside out,

good luck charms
across the floor...

all (fur) you.

Suffer in Silence by The Frames

hatch

consumed
by this story

i write
until
my fingers
start to twitch and

still

it's not enough   it
will not ever be, not

until it lives.

my yolky sanity
breaks
in two,
and i spill
like cider

between
and
over

the edges while i wait
for you
to sign me

giving birth
to pieces
inside

of me  and

i eat breakfast,
blissfully,

like a champ. i

have never even won

anything...

Lies by Glen Hansard

hoax

the saddest side
is

i believed you

while the buzzing bees
dissolved all
their honey  i

made trees out of
the lies
you gave to me

every fly and every bird

makes out
better than me  all
feigning happiness

to try
and simplify
the sting  i
return my hives with

only one idea in mind and

that is you,

at Christmas, covered
in snow.

like the olden days.
the yellow gold stripes
on my branches

fall in disarray.
i still

adore you, still

believe you...

Leave Me In The Dark by Keri Noble

diode

sapphire lights
all

the large-ness of
what you were

the fire
of human souls
collide

with tonight  i

never saw anybody's
back lit eyes as bright
as yours before

or

quite as blue,
but i am

willing to admit
you consume me.

our
energies collide
as fast

as lightning
bolts   alone

the

electricity unfolds and
we have

become a necessity,
a sign
post

of eccentricity for
every one

to see...

Watch Over Me by Bernard Fanning

knight

as a harbinger of peace
it took

me a while to realize

some people
are just mean.

vicious (they call it)
like

they have sour
apple juice
stuck
on the back of

their tongues,

no remorse.
they will rip apart
your face

while you stand (shining)
before them.

somebody  please
call the vineyard,
i need some wine

and

some birds    i
gotta grow a spine

because worms won't
cut it

any more, they

never did...

El Otro Lado by Josh Rouse

miracle mile

you told me (once)

my hair
looked

like an angel.

i dare you to   see me now,

take your picture
just like this

of my ragged heart and

try to remember

you did this.
do you regret me?

i review the stars

you left some
in
my eyes

and the way
you laughed
that night
under the trees

in massachusetts  i

cried so hard
the branches fell down
around me,   so

tell me (now)

how i look. do

i look like an angel
to you?

Things You Shouldn't Do by Margot and The Nuclear So And So's

motive

i understand now

how

the moth flickers
toward

the light  like a thief
he

waves his hands

in front of it
with vigor and relief   i

have done the same today  i

feel ruthless

every now (when)

i find   that things are separating
ending the way they
used to be,
turning off    i

flicker
toward any chance i have and
(any love)

like there used to be.

i wave my hands
in front of it.    i

hope you will see me,
i, the moth,

looking for my light...

Tell Me A Lie by Griffin House

embers

save  i have

to save you first
before you commit suicide

and then
i can delete
with reckless abandon,

like smoke and bridges

covered in ash
i leave

a trail of broken hearts
blazing

and smolders
in my wake

i burn them and
leave them

(in a box in my attic).

tell faulkner
dreams
make good things

to jump from.

some are heights from which
you can throw yourself
and never

hit

another dream (another
fulcrum of love)

you couldn't stand

and tears

and flames...

Star Mile by Joshua Radin

star-crossed

music gets louder
on

the moon

maybe frozen tears
reverberate
harder, stopping time

that's how she
got her crater

how she
(they tell me)
went away

after all these years.
it goes

black

for a while but
i don't know,
i think it's getting bigger

every day

like gravity and

so i drag my weightless heart
away from you like

the eagle nebula
(she's growing)

things are born,
leaving me behind.
i walk

in the wake
as the cavity grows,
as stars

of sadness like star trails
glowing

behind me become
nuclear

lunar pools...
the ocean's on the moon.

i left it there

myself,
the day i

said goodbye to you.

Songbird by Eva Cassidy

secular

you know
how  after it rains

a thousand worms
wind up scattered
across

the sidewalk,

(like they fell
out

of the sky), well,

i
skewer myself, too.

i hope for happy.

lights
come down on poles.

it has

been raining
for a while now
(months):

a flood
with
no remorse. i

would risk
life

and limb
to save you (see)
from

being washed away,

but the birds (the birds)
have come and

i have nothing left...

Not Your Year by The Weepies

twinkle

one by one
as

options dwindle
through my fingers

i keep plucking
petals

(moss will start
to grow
in  my eyes)    i

stand alone

after
all this time and

i (still) hear music,

those faint edges, tattered rhythms...

i feel hardened
scarred and softer as

i take each delicate one
from its home, a single stem
to

put them together (again) and i
berate my fingers:

keep up.
we have a whole forest

of indecision left
until you

love me...

Evenstar by Howard Shore

pollen

interesting how

marshmallows taste

(they settle in the)
crevices of your teeth
like mercenaries

sent to tell you
(you like bees)
you think

of getting a mouse
you

would name him colby jack

i wonder why
they talk to you   like that

your heart sticky and wondering
if it's any good

like soggy white dumplings
in porcelain apple bowls

(you love me)
and i love you,

the memory of you (the hope of you)

and the infrequent
gelatinous texts

which let me know that
you exist,

and feed me, sustain me

until the next...

Rain King (Live) by Counting Crows

calypso

walking fast
i part crowds like ships

traffic stops

i am
beautiful in motion

scars on my face like birds

in my yard
for once

i am going without you,
happy.
my hair blows

like sunshine

or rain
it will not be alone

every   one i pass
watches me go

words playing
delicately on their lips   like wings

for me

(i see it in their eyes)

i elicit smiles
like no woman ever has each time

i pass them
the same,

walking fast.
floating.

they only

see enough    to smile....

If Love Was Enough by Graham Colton

marionette

scattered paper

and half
finished sentences
lie

across the floor
millions   without me

i feel it in you
puppets

on a string

diviner, creator, maker

we float
across empty rooms
we made

nothing arms flailing,

alive with the bustling
noise

and paper cannot hear but
nevertheless

i scream my little
papier mache heart out,

angry at those fingers
which stretch my flimsy limbs
into ways

against

my backward motion
and dream...

Walk Away by Ben Harper

hot chocolate

destined
to be alone   i

hold on
to my sanity because
i have to.

i wrap   it up
on cold winter nights

in flannel pajamas
and lady's slippers,
romance
evaporating.

all around me,
two by two,
i watch
them melt

in
tiny marsh
mallow puddles,

(swirling) into each other

like the colors
of a peppermint stick.

i sit here by myself,
alone,
just watching,

the color of dirt.
i am

unmixed cocoa
on top of

the heap...

Fake Plastic Trees (Acoustic) by Radiohead

at all time

on top of
la 'eiffel      i am

on solid tour
of this old world's   highest highs

(who)

at their peak
have yet
to reach bottom.

it is me
in finite years   i
am yet

destined     to be friends

with the smallest
of smalls   and

so to perch  myself
on something
enthroned,

only lonesome in my head.

it is my dreams.

i hang on them.
and i
make my peace
with grasshoppers...

Watch Me Walk by Keri Noble

no mas

catatonic
     i keep swimming

in my own
invisible sea,

swallowing water like art on the walls
i keep
for a home
i'll never own

nobody sees them

much less (me).

i am no longer
who i used to be.
fish

swim
whales thrash...     all
this is theirs.

i don't even belong
in my own
                     (sea).

an ocean...  it
empties slow,

fills

back up again.
this is my vortex,

like a salt water bath tub and
i spin

round and round,
caught up

in the (massive) swirl
of

decline...

At This Point In My Life by Tracy Chapman

inertia

there is no    (in)
between

with me...    i wallow
on the shallow brink

of imperfection,
walking the line
between

a plethora of sights
and a

euphemistic lack
of money:

it is
a minutia   of love,

like glass   in a window
closed hard

in front of my face.  i lurk
downtrodden
and disheveled

on an outside ledge

i cling  halfheartedly   to the dream of you

(and brightness)

like some gargoyle queen
of the night.
i try so hard

to be still...

Circles by Melissa Rapp

catheter

it takes more energy

for your heart
to relax
than to contract,

they say,
and i agree.

i feel like

i am wearing shoes
(without heels) and

the size of my thought-bubble toes
has

increased (so much so)
that

i love you

more than i can stand.
i just

can't let go. i have been walking
away  from you
for a while now...

the calluses i made
in my mind remind me

of how
soft we used to be.

they say
it takes longer   to fall out of love
than in it,

and i agree.
i will love you

until i have to wear

orthopedic shoes...