All Poems
The dream
February 21, 2026
The plan and execution— A fool's errand: demanded retribution.
On the steps outside of music class
January 20, 2026
On the steps outside of music class You taught me how to jump through time. The wrought-iron handrails,
Only by stripping the partial shrouds
January 15, 2026
Only by stripping the partial shrouds Of indecision Can we face the darkest clouds
Bougainvillea
January 15, 2026
I watched her hair catch fire On the promontory. My heart burns in the twin chestnut flames
The unexpected voice only sounds familiar
September 22, 2025
The unexpected voice only sounds familiar because it rings through the darkness like the choice—the choice that should have killed you.
The Champagne Ship
June 11, 2025
The champagne ship sailed through the night returning to a home washed over by the waves of the unknown.
Don't fucking listen.
April 22, 2025
You don't have to lie. Your truth is a flawless silhouette in a blacktop dream,
If one kid reads this
April 20, 2025
I wish I could have warned you. I know it all seemed like just a game—
The high-pitched call
April 15, 2025
The high-pitched call that escaped your chapped lips into the nighttime winter wind,
Disrupt the continuum
March 24, 2025
There may be days you need to disrupt the continuum—
Off the Avenue
March 20, 2025
Oh, how I wished I could have been driving Straight to you, on the long highway On those lonely, dark nights
One summer night, you'll glimpse infinity.
March 16, 2025
One summer night, you'll glimpse infinity. Climb the hill, between the rolling White Mountains, and on the way
The bars, the windows,
March 15, 2025
The bars, the windows, The shadows, the symbols. The nights, the bed—
The shadow of a dark cloud you felt
March 13, 2025
The shadow of a dark cloud you felt hovering over you, an illogical premonition of inevitability,
One day, on a corner, waiting for the light to change,
March 12, 2025
One day, on a corner, waiting for the light to change, on a walk back home— she'll look quickly back up at you,
The argument against war
March 2, 2025
To dance beneath the moonlight with ghosts across the still lake and take your place among them—
A chamber of the overcome
February 23, 2025
You'll be taken back one day To the room you worked your entire life to escape,
Tracing the beautiful illusion of control
February 21, 2025
The mazes you drew in red and orange marker, stretched and floated
Ribbons
February 13, 2025
Ribbons unfurl and dance across your field of vision in the sunshine, their curls and shimmers
Where dreams emerged...
February 2, 2025
Please don't take away the early mornings on the subway, Biggie bumping in the Walkman.
Beyond the override
January 29, 2025
When the clouds wash off your face like soap foam, and you fall from a parallel extreme—
Freeze-frames
January 29, 2025
Each of the freeze-frames of your worst moments dance in front of the mirror as it sparkles
How'd you know the echo of colors
January 27, 2025
How'd you know the echo of colors Of those Suzuki strings Would sing across decades,
The dewdrops of your dreams
January 11, 2025
It's the words scrawled past the margins That are all you'll ever need. Your heart still lives in the ghost light
The escape with no roadmap
January 9, 2025
The escape with no roadmap Where any path you choose to walk Is nothing more than
As your lungs fill
December 16, 2024
The pull of return from the forced pause Exists within you—
As if you both knew
December 14, 2024
You can't grasp what you'd most wish. Tiny dust motes dancing and shimmering
Let the wind die down
December 12, 2024
What you didn't have— A cycloned prophecy in your mind. Yet it was still you who stole
And everyone is transformed
December 11, 2024
When you hear the piercing cry for help From a member of your tribe, Her children clutched by her side,
I'll learn one day
December 9, 2024
To even think that I could teach you, When you already know so much. You'll know how much I'll need to hold you
You touched the cloud
December 8, 2024
Butterflies and secret sparks in long glittering hallways Butter cake and a
Or did you stay on the floor?
December 8, 2024
She disappeared down the hallway, And you watched her close the door. You walked back into your apartment
In the ghost light
December 7, 2024
You jumped the fence And ran. Sometimes the wind lifted you
Use your instrument
December 5, 2024
You understood the sound of love as you were read a bedtime
How special it is when you find the
December 5, 2024
How special it is when you find the unexpected vessel that awakens the dormant passion
She appeared like a sparkling shimmer
December 3, 2024
She appeared like a sparkling shimmer From the glow of the purple crystal chandelier,
Imagine you could watch
December 2, 2024
Imagine you could watch everything you don't need spin and twist, float and fly down to the
Conceive the next magic trick
December 1, 2024
The energy you spent dismissing Something too random to be coincidental,
I want to see you after you practice for
November 30, 2024
I want to see you after you practice for months Then choke on the big stage.
Indistinguishable from silence
November 29, 2024
Sometimes the screams grow so loud The sound becomes indistinguishable from silence
As the fire grew within
November 28, 2024
The Walkman on the long rides throughout the boroughs As you explored the world.
Sleeping on the couch in the old house
November 28, 2024
Sleeping on the couch in the old house Where the faucet pours hope and doubt in equal parts.
One day you'll wake up from a
November 26, 2024
One day you'll wake up from a dream on the dark side of the
Remember when you
November 25, 2024
Remember when you wrapped the string around your tiny
All the times you felt the music stir
November 24, 2024
All the times you felt the music stir your soul, So much that your eyes welled up with
Revisit the darkness
November 23, 2024
What force draws you back to walk the winding tunnel of those old blocks,
But you still needed
November 22, 2024
I'm sorry I never spoke to you on the steps. I saw you pass by every day. Sometimes you floated right past me
Out of any other
November 21, 2024
How does it look through The glass of the window blown by memory?
Notice the tremors in your
November 20, 2024
Notice the tremors in your unsteady hand as you draw The maps to the worlds that
Until you find the color
November 19, 2024
Can you arrange the blocks And place yourself within? Can you draw the intricate maze
Your intuition knew
November 18, 2024
You'll never forget when you feel magic. It'll grab you by the throat And freeze-stamp the time and place—
The domino cascade
November 17, 2024
How can you enhance the vision of their goodness As clearly as
Invisible prisons you locked yourself in
November 16, 2024
The long coupon bus rides To the neon towers in the darkness.
The jacket you wore all last
November 15, 2024
The jacket you wore all last year Suddenly feels too puffy,
The underground snake-ship,
November 14, 2024
The underground snake-ship, The blue hour bus ride, Just so you could sit alone
The life that you escaped
November 13, 2024
A thousand fun-house mirrors arrayed Around you, reflecting the fragmented Selves you wished you were,
The times you were held
November 12, 2024
The times you were held in those rare, accidental pauses, in the early mornings before you
Think deeply before you
November 11, 2024
Think deeply before you slip on that sheath, for so often the cover you
Stay with the painful thoughts
November 10, 2024
Imagine compassion built from the times you stayed with the painful thoughts.
The inner spark
November 10, 2024
Don't let the thing you needed most, Yet never received, Become the flashlight without
A calculated leap across the darkness
November 8, 2024
Remember the vision that came to you in the light,
Don't let it build
November 7, 2024
There are so many reasons. It can build up inside of you like trash slowly filling an empty garbage can.
What happens next
November 6, 2024
The flame begins to burn In the palace of imagination, surrounded by Thousands of books, millions of words,
So use your own
November 5, 2024
You never yearned to hear another voice But your mother's,
Cherish the click
November 4, 2024
Cherish the click. When you understand that the words that once harmed you
That only you can feel
November 3, 2024
The absence of a guiding hand, The touch you missed— Forced you to feel every nuance
That syncopated rhythm
November 2, 2024
Listen closely to The hole within yourself, So shapeless and so vast,
Coruscate off her skin
November 1, 2024
One day you'll echo the never-ending Structures you built as a child In a meticulously conceived sanctuary,
Know that it's coming
October 31, 2024
Know that it's coming: Something unforgettable will happen, That turns your heart cold,
The real prison
October 30, 2024
Don't let your power of choice be consumed by the bitterness and frustration
What did the man in the black cowboy hat say?
October 29, 2024
The truth of certain words will reverberate in your mind long
Hold close the messenger
October 28, 2024
One day, you'll discover a way to do things— a logical structure to your
Let's walk together
October 27, 2024
You don't yet know me, but I know exactly who you are. I've made every mistake you've made
What can you do now to prepare?
October 26, 2024
The real test will come When you haven't studied, When you're standing naked in the snow,
Tangled up inside
October 25, 2024
It's not someone else's job To find the thread that wove the web
The shadow dance for your escape
October 24, 2024
Shut your eyes when you know you're trapped Until you
The soft shadow
October 23, 2024
You see the shadow of the Ghost in front of you, and feel its presence behind your back.
Your warm breath
October 22, 2024
There's something you will do, Before the clock sweeps past nine, That will make time stand on its head,
From the source
October 21, 2024
Don't pause, don't interrupt the flow If the churn, fed by a million different tributaries,
The shards that slice your hands
October 20, 2024
Each pivotal moment, Each crucial scene, frozen in time, Buried deep beneath the protective membrane
Fill the shape
October 19, 2024
One day, you'll watch a friend receive The help you never knew to ask for. Please, don't let that fissure
The greatest party you've ever seen in your life
October 18, 2024
The blank, beige canvas stands before you— Higher than your eyes, Wider than your outstretched arms,
How will you begin?
October 17, 2024
Nights, years—nights, years— Alone in your bedroom, The voices in your head echo off the walls,
Bring your past selves to their feet
October 16, 2024
Treasure the time you have on stage, For you may not always sing so sweet.
The painting of paradise
October 15, 2024
Yesterday, through my translucent looking glass I watched, from the deepest recesses of my desire A girl, who in a Brooklyn bath
To shape your heart
October 14, 2024
When you leave home for the first time, Someone might recognize you by The sound of your voice, the way you wear your
Comes from love
October 13, 2024
I watched you with a 4-crayon pack, Filling letters with a careful hand, Each stroke a single color.
Remember the feeling
October 12, 2024
You look down At your wedding shoes, from so long ago, Those deep blue
Those wounds stung
October 11, 2024
There will come a time When you must walk with the weight
You're such a beautiful child
October 10, 2024
One day you'll watch From the back seat of the car Your Dad grab your Mom's hair
A word is worth one coin. Silence is worth two.
October 9, 2024
Sometimes, you just have to let go. Flick your thumb,
Yet the surface still, remains so perfect
October 8, 2024
The surface of the giant lake before you Is so still, Its reflection—
You will achieve
October 7, 2024
One beautiful early fall day You will walk across campus On your way
Or leave before you
October 6, 2024
What if you got so good at lying That they could just float out of you And fly away and pop
So slip away
October 5, 2024
It's okay to Slip out at night, Basketball in hand,
In your arms
October 4, 2024
One day, when you're six years old you may watch your Dad leave, and have just the
And you are magic
October 3, 2024
Imagine a crystal vase Filled with clear warm water Floating in a pale blue sky.
You can
October 2, 2024
One day you'll meet a person Who, for no reason at all, doesn't like you On sight.
Come back to you
October 1, 2024
One day you'll stand on the ledge of a rooftop Your hometown and the river will spin Around beneath you
OneKidReadThis...the journey begins
September 30, 2024
Imagine I was right there with you When you looked up to your bedroom ceiling