you take him for granted, you green-eyed boy
you assume he will be there when you turn around
so, how will you feel when he steps
outside the boundaries of your garden
disappears
no more than a memory
a hallucination
that you wish you had forgotten

you take him for granted, you green-eyed boy
you are selfish with his yellow hair
you keep him to yourself
but nobody else cares anyway
because he doesn't exist

but maybe
he is selfish with you too
your emerald eyes
your nasal voice
and the oh-so-ugly way your mouth
quirks upside down
when you frown

he keeps you to himself, while you keep him locked away
and he haunts you
with visions
that you wish you couldn't see
you reach out to touch him
and your hand goes right through
and you catch yourself
wishing

he sits on your bed every migt
and comes up with bad excuses
worse than the ones
you spit at him
you walk in the door at three in the morning
and he touches your face
and tells you to go to sleep

every time you dream
you watch him die
purple blue yellow bruises encircling his neck
and he smiles that bitter-sad smile
while you hide your face
and look away
as he reminds you
that the next one will be better

you find yourself, unpacking, in the living room
staring at old family photos and bad college papers
and you wonder
what your life was like before
before he was part of it
before you got stuck
because the boy in those photos is gone, gone