now every girl on the west coast knows your name LA

three weeks on the road 
are three too many 
to keep the pair 
of eyes at the bar
from wandering where they shouldn’t
and 
one’s last night in town 
is enough to make the tone 
in any initial conversation 
feel like foreplay;
it’s a shame
my monologues make 
too good of speeches for the underdog candidate, 
i started
to make her think i was running for office 
“listen,"
i said,
"i think i gave the wrong impression, 
that wasn't a pick up line 
i really did like 
the design on your umbrella
but, honestly
i’m not your guy, 
not this year sweetheart 
although, 
perhaps him
the beard and sideburns looking this way,
i’m pretty sure he studied something important 
truly, 
i bet he even wears cologne.” 
yet even confident diffusion can seem 
like an invitation to want something.
"you sure?"
she asked,
and i guess you just kind of know 
these kind of things 
besides
i’ve been looking twenty six years for one heart 
and i was never so fond of 
the one found in 
twenty six minutes and a well drink 
"tell me" 
she said, through dilating eyes
"where did all the warmth go?
you were glowing before 
i got close enough for it to matter,"
but i did warn her 
besides 
she didn’t make my lips shake  
and 
i’ve never loved a woman who didn’t scare the hell out of me

now every girl on the west coast knows your name LA
and they use it to answer 
the question of 
what they got wrong 

-----

even then
i couldn’t have known 
what it would feel like to finally arrive  
to embrace you for a second, 
and then to say goodbye 
so when you looked at me like that
you made my head feel like a magic eight ball, 
and i would have let you shake me however long it took
to get the answers you were looking for, 
and when you held onto my arm
you made my heart feel like a unsolved rubik's cube 
and you always said math wasn’t your strong suit,
so i’ll wait til the next hello and coffee 
to let you want to solve me back to color