Aspertame
Dedicated to Courtney

You wouldn't recognize me
In print
That column you just read
I woke up and life had changed
I was still alive
But my whole life had been in my head
Tossing apologies for telling your mistakes
While mine are used against me
When I say
You ran away
I mean that day
I was left with nothing
Renunciants get a choice
You left me with dust
Finding your hairs six months later
Sex as retaliation
Honesty like a slap in the face
If you ask for either, I have to give them
I don't think my life can change
The tourists like it this way
I'm stuck between the past and the future
I'm always bleeding from picking at the suture
I'm here tasting the cornfield
Spreading backward wings
As I go through the windshield
Bent double for Wednesdays
Turned myself inside out
Hold your hand for always
But no words come out
And when I'm dead
I'll exist on paper
Bathroom's turned red
You found your razor
There are no excuses
My watch unwinds
I've run out of uses
I love you so much it broke my mind
There's a light inside of me
It revolves behind my eyes
There's a crooked word inside of me
I've been writing just to find