Dusty Calcote Poetry

If I knew the things I do now
When we were rolling in bedsheets like tap water,
Sinking,
I could have told you I love you back.
But sometimes we’re blinded by the backsplash
Of swerving ocean and shot glass
With late nights and cut class,
We were changing.
The roads were rocky.
We spent too much time tumbling through our back trails
Trying to cover footprints we both knew didn’t need to be there.
Baby,
Walk with me away from this.

Burn a match and watch the smoke hiss like lullabies,
Singing, this ship slowly sinking.
Don’t wake the harbor with your questions.
Don’t give the hurricane a reason to get you.
The waters are calm and the sharks haven’t smelled the blood yet
So whatever you do don’t hold your breathe,
Because darling you promised me you wouldn’t do that anymore,
And when the ship finally went down I saw you,
Hanging from the mast with the sails ripped.
But while I was busy signaling safety ships
Making sure we never got our signals mixed with distance,
I saw the leap you took.
Away from me and every book I could have filled with poetry for you,
Falling towards the water with a prose that knows no boundaries.

So I threw a key in after you.
To the notes I’ve been keeping inside my teeth,
I try not to grind away my memories while I sleep,
But don’t let me keep you.
Don’t let these lock boxes of mine fool you,
When my teeth rot from holding all the truth back
And all my message in a bottles rattle their way to my voice box
Don’t think I won’t stomach my words.
The hangover might hurt but I’d rather not disturb you
I’m just a little drunk from all the sailing.
You see I took a few shots of Jerry with Davy Jones
Because I’d rather be cursing lock boxes with someone who knows
What it’s like to feel the ocean in your ventricles.
Swerving madly with the way your tide pulls
Than be alone with you,
In a tight room just trying to hold these bottles back.
Clenching my teeth so I don’t have to tell you,
That I love you,
For the leap you took.
The way your body broke the water
Made me take look at my own reflection.

So I decided to write a poem for you,
About a boy who uses the truths in his teeth
To never speak the same mistakes twice.
I might leave the harbor with ripped sails
But don’t worry.
The water isn’t deep enough to drown me
And the sharks haven’t smelled the blood yet.
Besides, Calypso left Davy for somebody else,
And I’ve got some plans to see the ocean with an old friend.