"stranger's diary"

22/30

we found you on the steps
of an abandoned church in the countryside
looking for a home
you sat open and inviting to the occasional
passerby, should one ever approach.
page 131 cracked open, dog-eared with intention
begging for the intimacy of a close read
like a exhibitionist with an ever-unbuttoned trench coat
you sacrifice mystery for the simple
thrill of being seen
forgetting this is not the same as being known
or understood
for the abstract painting dwelling within,
sometimes it all a matter of thinking you are appreciated.

hold me like you would a thriller novel
clutching the pages with earnest
desire to see what's on the other side.
Getting high off the wrong turns and
feeling justified in the right,
fully absorbed into
whatever emotional connection the author
prescribes.
I write our story like smoke in the sky
look up while you can, before it absorbs itself
into the clouds.