synesthesia

PROJECTION I

we stood around in the cold
like a bunch of kids
waiting for permission

I left only the parking lights on
when I started to drive you across town
and could’ve got us thrown in jail
with the half-burnt bomber in the ashtray
and you were speedy as all hell

I felt like I couldn’t keep up
with the demand, and we volleyed the
aloofness back and forth at one another
and I left a party full of strangers;
nice enough people but I didn’t know them
and anyway
none of them were you

PROJECTION II

I had been tensing my jaw all night
and grinning wide while I moved
self-aware in the fake fog and the
humid darkness looking for a girl
in a green sweater I met upstairs
and then followed with my eyes
all night, then that friendly
sweaty guy hugged me, and
she shrugged

ORDINAL LINGUISTIC PERSONIFICATION

I assign arbitrary personalities
to numbers 1 through 9, and
when I send out a message
I drain the bottle first
then with great care and focus
I scribble something off the
top of my head which
I will later regret or
find better perspective
on in the future