crush

how do i tell you

when the beast dances with the beauty

it’s your hand i want to hold

how do i tell you

when i’m gazing at the stars

you’re the magic I seek

how do i tell you

when we’re both busy with work

you’re what occupies my thoughts

how do i tell you

when we’re next to each other

i want to take you with me and run

how do i tell you

when things are awkward

we should kiss it all away

how do i tell you

when you want to dial it back

i am already knee-deep in trouble

how do i tell you

when i say we can be friends

I secretly wish we’d be more

how do i tell you

when i am pulling your leg

the joke is really on me

Three Stooges

Nostalgia is

being reminded of why I liked you many moons ago

when we finally had the chance to go out dancing together

you are simply mesmerizing

 

Nostalgia is

getting emotional while listening to “In Our Bedroom After the War”

because it’s your favourite Stars song

even though I didn’t want a future with you

 

Nostalgia is

having a crush on a work acquaintance

but not the courage to ask her out

because I wasn’t sure if I had room in my heart

Ode to Kronborg Castle

(written for an online contest about staying at the Kronborg Castle for Shakespeare’s 400th birthday celebration!)

To Elsinore we must go
For it’s alluded us so
We’ve known Hamlet since 10
We were friends from way back then

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were like distant brothers
Though we never paid too much heed
Because boys were boys
And we ourselves discovery need

Eight years later
University beckoned
The King’s Ghost haunted us
We were reacquainted once again

This time the love affair with the Royal Danes
and the obsession for poor Ophelia’s sufferings
Took hold of our academic lives
We were knee-deep in Hamlet’s state of affairs

But the love and kinship this time did not end
It extended beyond papers and textbooks
We were old enough to embrace and understand
Old Yorick’s skull was truly a gem

No words are ever precise or sufficient
To describe my girlfriend’s adoration for the Bard of Avon
I know I am no competition
When it comes to her love for the English language

And I, an artist living and breathing film and theatre
in beautiful Vancouver, BC
Would love the opportunity
To shake Horatio’s hands and applaud his courage all these years

Though my girlfriend and I discovered Hamlet on separate journeys,
We share a love for Shakespeare
Because we know his literature has staying power
And through him our love will flower

This iambic pentameter is harder than words can say
but it’s the bonus and the stay at the home of Hamlet that we pray
For there is nothing else more exciting
Than being able to share our love
In the castle by the Danish shore

go ahead, tell me

can you tell by looking in my eyes that I’m not happy?
can you tell the life I have newly built with my wife recently fell apart?
can you tell I have more sadness in my life? Or less than before?
can you tell that even though I’m surrounded by friends I feel alone?
can you tell my heart’s been broken, then frozen over?
can you tell I am like a stone; motionless, helpless and cold?
can you tell I have been holding back my feelings?
can you tell I say cruel things just to push her away from me?
can you tell there’s heartache and pain behind my smile and shrug?

can you tell I am using my head to reason much more than my heart to feel?
can you tell ignoring my heart doesn’t mean it’s not aching?
can you tell the sadness I feel is not from wishing we could start over again but from where did we go wrong?
can you tell even though I seem strong I actually really need someone to lean on?
can you tell that with all the support I have and can get, I am still falling?

can you tell my life is now a mess?
can you tell that I am going to be okay?

can you tell that with all the sadness weighing me down, I still love my wife to the moon and back?