The room is spinning-- a turntable techno tilt-a-whirl and I have a belly full of whiskey. She plucks me out of a basement conga line. Her hand is cold against my forearm.

     "Hi," she yells over the music. She looks like danger in a green dress. A fiery heap of curls on her head and eyes that could ignite every flag in Vostok. 

     "Hey," I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose and try to place her. I don't think I've seen her around campus before. Surely, those freckles would have burned into my memory. 

     She leans into me and a loose curl brushes my cheek,"I chose you." 

     "Huh?" 

     She smiles, open mouthed and unabashed, "I said I CHOSE you." I didn't need her to repeat herself. I just needed her to clarify, but before I could ask again, she pulls me around the corner and into the bathroom. 

     We are all hands and breath. She hikes up her dress and grasps at my belt buckle. She looks untouched-- shiny and new and too pristine to stand next to these frat house urinals. I reach my finger to her lips and smudge her red lipstick across her cheek. There, that's better. 

     The music is a muffled tha-thump tha-thump and we move in rhythm like the night is choreographed. There is cranberry and juniper on her tongue. She tastes like a holiday. I want to wrap her in tinsel and paper just to be able to untie and un-tuck her slowly. I know I'd be surprised every time. 

    "Merry Christmas," I whisper.

     She giggles into my chest, "But it's August."

     We melt onto the floor and I don't care about the filth anymore. My body is caked in possibility, "What's your name?" 

     "Shhhhhh" She presses her hand over my mouth.

     "No, really. I want to know."

     She folds toward me. Her breath on my neck sends a crackling electricity through my jaw and to my stomach. She bites my earlobe. Hard. I pull away, surprised. I can feel the heat of my blood as it trickles to my collarbone. 

     She slides into her shoes and pushes open the door. I won't see her again, but the teeth marks will last for weeks. 

Another ale, at an All-American

Bar. Beer bellies bulging, men

Call up "careless" chicks, and clamor

Drunkenly, descending like dragons,

Ever evading endless echoes, of

Fallen females feverish with fury.

Accept the offer spoken

And pretend we were never broken

And take my hand that is out

Just give me a chance

Let me see the darkness leave the past

For the future bright as possible 

In the junction of a railroad crossing

I would always life the iron

Maintain a life in line

For the chance to take your hand

To forever be your 'mine'

You're perfection is your faults

Do I love you I think as I watch you undress.

I'm showering you say and kiss me.

You smell like men's cologne and cigarettes and well whiskey.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks I think.

I don't want to change you.

I want to reign you in.

Settle you down into the stables.

Tame you mildly.

Open the gate and

let you run.

I hope that if one day

You forget me

You remember how you made me smile

And how my heartbeat sounded

I hope you remember how my lips formed words

The different intonations in my voice

And the soul within my eyes

Although you may never put a name

To these qualities

I hope you remember them

And I hope you remember how I loved you

Oh I loved you so

This, I'll always know

Love, isn't defined by gender.

It shouldn't need a defender.

It doesn't matter if you're white, grey or black,

Or if you live in a mansion, house or shack.

Whether you're a man or woman,

We're all human.

When one heart connects to another,

With a lover,

That's all that should matter.

So why does it cause society to shatter?

Love is love,

Whether you believe in yourself or the Almighty above.

Why would anyone bat an eye,

If a guy adores another guy.

Why would anyone say they're being racy,

If a lady adores another lady.

It's honestly none of their business.

It's not an illness, it's not audacious, or faithless,

But it's righteous,

So I don't understand those being contentious.

Let love be love,

And accept those thereof.