i'm here by myself
watching the reflection of a fan spin

somewhere between the window
and some distant streetlight.

everyone else is either sleeping or having sex

and you're bored again.

it's like when you are excited about a [guy] and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. and other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. and all you want is to always feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means that you're happy too.

-perks of being a wallflower

The Quiet World

In an effort to get people to look
into each other's eyes more,
the government has decided to allot
each person exactly one hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it
to my ear without saying hello.
In the resteraunt I point
at chicken noodle soup. I am
adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long-
distance lover and proudly say:
I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn't repond, I know
she's used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you,
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

-Jeffrey McDaniel