i. auditory

when we first meet, you’re the 

all american boy. your voice 

infiltrates through the suffocating 

silence of the history classroom. 

rough but warm like your leather

jacket you’d soon drape over

my shoulders at your football 

games. 

ii. gustatory

when we first kiss, you’re 

melted milkshakes and fries.

your tongue- ambition and 

unadulterated youth. 

the marco polo of my inner 

pharynx.

iii. somatosensory

when we vow, you’re steadfast. 

your hands clutching mine, 

letting no air escape from between.

your structured black wool 

coarse against my bare shoulder. 

when rice rains down on our heads, 

you take gentle grip on my chin 

and promise to never stray.

iv. olfactory

when you lie, you’re pungent. 

you stay out later and come home

sour, on an exponential model. 

your presence preceding 

the stench of glass bottles and

unrestraint. when the stink

possesses you, you leave me

smelling of syrupy crimson,

metal and tolerance. and you

reek of broken promises.

v.  visual

when i see you now, you’re a

stranger: miserable and dormant.

still pumping with dirtied

blood, now controlling with 

shadowed eyes, now with

hands to hurt. maybe, you don’t

recognize me either; damaged 

goods with the culprit– you.

you’re potential energy wasted.

you’re obsession and faulty 

faith. you’re the shell of 

an all american boy.