17. i saw you before

I’d seen you before I knew you.

You weren’t the first one of your kind.

I’d seen you in the abandoned warehouses, on cement steps, taking calls with the boys, hiding behind a lens.

I saw you at airports, looking hopeless and hopeful.

I saw you go to beaches and cities, but not back home.

I saw you feel pretty at parties surrounded by birds.

I saw you mourn the night with street lamps,
watching her walk away.

I saw you furrowing your brows behind rain covered glass.

I saw you exchange nicknames in the back of booths.

I saw you burn out from exposure under towers of lights.

I saw you dip your feet in the water making the public school ladies laugh.

I saw you in the back of cabs wanting to cry and not knowing how.

I saw you floating above paris, wondering if that was the place.

I saw you on boats with wooden trunks and the ones with the good champagne. 

I saw you wave to the neighbors, drinking coffee on windowsills.

I saw you leave not going anywhere, but to go.

The only thing I hadn’t seen before was you in love with someone else.  

U︎︎︎P