I Meant to Land in Kansas, But I Ended Up in Roswell

Love has a way of uprooting us.

And I don't want to paint anymore
because anything I paint
I feel compelled to paint it for you.

You've slept with a girl
from every state of this Massive Country of ours.
You told me I was magic number
Fifty-One.
What planet does that mean I'm from?
Or have you started at the top of the list
for another round?

In the end,
I'm the one who's running
though, I don't know what from.
The possibility of emotion
is more threatening than my
Impending Dissection.
Throw me on the table-
discover the way
my organs are haphazardly arranged.

You called me a hurricane-
but you're the wind that got me going-
and if the coastlines suffer
it's all because of you.
If I manage to make my way through,
I hope I find you at the center.
Because I'm in desperate need
of some peace and quiet.
I'm tired of riding in this
Uprooted Kansas Farm House
that just won't stop spinning.
If it lands-
I hope it crushes all the parts of you
that frighten me.

And you tell me:
"There is no man behind the curtain,
what you see is what you get."
I just light another cigarette.
I'm dying a little bit
all the time
what's one more cancerous breath?
Small price to pay,
just to get away.
Now if only I could touch the ground again.

Author's Note

No seriously. I was the 51st girl he had ever slept with. Fancy that.

Reviews

[Legion]

This is going to be a strange review. Your title drew me in. Very creative and different. When I began reading it though, i immediately had a feeling that I was going to be disappointed. I was thinking "Oh great! Another love lost or gone awry and the agony from it piece". Let's face it, there are plenty of those on this site and in the poetic world in general. And let's also face the fact that most are terrible. No offense to those writers' feeling because it is a heart-breaking thing, but the writing is usually mundane, mediocre, and typical. But, I continued reading anyway. Good thing, because you have written a gem of tale. Great writing. Great wording. Excellent imagery. Your use of symbolism is spot on and heightens every sentence...nay, every word...nay once again, every single letter of this masterpiece. If I ever have to go through another heartache or heartbreak in my life, I hope it is felt in such vivid detail and depth as this piece. I applaud you and your effort put into this. Definetely going into my favorites. A round of applause and kudos to you. Thank you for making something that has become common place and boring around here into something that I consider a masterpiece and memoriable. Bravo!

[Charles]

If you ask me, there's something a bit funny about counting. This is a very nice poem about that experience (however long it lasted). The title is especially intriguing (I can never get mine to work so well. The poem opens abruptly, pulling the reader into the esperience immediately - good effect. I like the idea of haphazardly arranged organs (not from the biological perspective, but from the poetic point of view) and like all the storm analogies (the idea of some peace at the center of 'this hurricane' of a guy). Winding up back in Kansas (even though ther's no wizard behind the curtain) is a good way to end. Writing like this shows you have touched the ground again.