Courage

I once knew a boy who wrote so well

his words made me smile through my tears I once knew a boy who only spoke ever so abstractly that he once told me if he were to ever kiss me,

he would say orange before doing it, never said why, never asked what for, And I thought that felt about right. I once knew a girl who took cold showers in winter

just so she could stand in her bathroom later naked and wrapped in a towel sans sweat with heat, the good kind,

and sing a good few lyrics until she cried not enough to spill tears

but enough to feel how hot they were. She once knew this girl who told her

the warmer your tears are, the sadder you've been I want to know her too. I once knew a girl who fell for every boy she opened up to I thought she was beautiful, she thought she was stupid

because they thought she was stupid.

what is stupid really? I once knew a boy who wrote about

the taste of this universe

and how it's bitter

and I wanted to fight him by saying that

it's not metallic blood

maybe it's a sweet dew I didn't say it that day, Because now I know. It's not sweet. It's not dew. It's not blood. But it's not pleasant either. I hope the next person I know stays, and I hope I have the courage to write about them in their wake

and not when they're gone

not when it's too late.

I hope I have courage enough to read it to them

instead of being a Gatsby about it

by putting it out for everyone,

hoping they see it

and hoping they know.

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