takeout with you
fortune cookie says
“you see beauty
where others only see
ordinary”

small town
Chinese restaurant
my favorite part,
reading our fates
to each other

greasy takeout
after a shitty day
crack open
an empty cookie
how unfortunate

fortune cookie
dry in my mouth
this delicate sweet
says to me
try again

1

all out of words
I’ll drink the inkwell
if it gives me
something
to write about

2

assignment sheet
worn at the edges
just like me
never good at
following instructions

3

dog ear
on the page
your annotation
was our last
goodbye

4

for her birthday,
an uncertain future
in a box of
“open when” letters
she can’t wait to read

5

tucked inside a drawer,
a rough draft of
the last letter
I thought I’d ever write.
it did get better.

6

new edition
of an old favorite
in your arms
i read aloud
this happens all the time

7

pen pals separated
by 362 miles
write to fill
the time apart
Mom and I

8

entering
another world
immersed in the
vivid transformation of
times new roman

9

I wait to finish it
— your favorite book
tabbed and annotated
until we part
for summer

10

surrounded by people
i'm texting you and
you're texting me
like we're passing notes
in middle school

11

wondering how
Eurydice felt
knowing her lover
would always make
the poet’s choice

12

lamp-lit room
no more time
left to waste
I lock myself in
and write my way out

13

sneaking a little note
or word of encouragement
into my planner
she never fails
to surprise me

14

sleeping next to
coffee cake crumbs
and an empty mug
the open window
turns a book’s pages

15

passing images
day to day
i see the world
in terms
of tanka

16

falling in love
with fiction
dreaming of a job
where i sleep
on a bed of books

17

the book's hardcover
worn over time
nevertheless
the story endures,
untouched and pure

18

sticky notes
on the mirror
remind me to “smile :)”
as I hold my hair back
and swear off drinking again