Lists for the Future

We are Valentin, Natascha, Rhia, Stephen, and Xeno. We live in different parts of the world. We send each other lists to fill out. *This was inspired by listography, OCD, and loss. (c) Lists for the Future 2013

[listsforthefuture]

you're imagining all the ways i'd ask for you back

i'm imagining all the ways you'd move on

[listsforthefuture]

flings

you could be the future, but

timing

distance

no

[listsforthefuture]

love completes strangers

love completes

love

[listsforthefuture]

her eyes made players husbands

her walk made husbands players

[listsforthefuture]

he aligned her bottles

she aligned his tears

when he was with her, he understood all those love songs

smiling in the rain, shouting from rooftops

she now knows why most love songs aren't about love

remembering, pleading

they're all about lost loves

[listsforthefuture]

you thought your love was special

most breakups happen on a monday

you broke up on a monday

you thought your love was special

[listsforthefuture]

You wear the mask of an asshole so well that people are starting to believe it's your real face.

But not me

I remember you

[listsforthefuture]

"Your ribcage is the jail that holds my heart."

That was a 1am text I sent to you.

I was stoned.

I'm not sorry.

[listsforthefuture]

The day he hit me hard enough

to knock me out

was the day she called the police…

At the police station

the officer said “Tell me what happened.”

and I started to relay the stories

of a broken girl

and fists and screams and violence -

The office interrupted me

and said “We’re not interested in that.

Tell us what happened today.”

At the end of the day

they said there wasn’t enough evidence

and they let him take me home again…

[listsforthefuture]

he's living like he's writing a novel

playing the role of a villain afraid of life

"I can live with my mistakes, my choices," he writes

"They've all led me to you."

[listsforthefuture]

he was the type that watched only highlights

he was the type that punched other men out of jealousy

he was the type that listened to sirens and knew where he was

he was the type to leave

[listsforthefuture]

Flowers grow backwards

Making the choice difficult

To eat the fruit or

Wait for it to bloom

[listsforthefuture]

his apartment checklist

hot water

cool dog

internet

Asian roommate that speaks a European language

European roommate that cooks Asian cuisine

cinematic quality of bedroom

[listsforthefuture]

i wanted to write a poem about the subways

our blue lines

how trains change in every city

the ends of handlebars at different heights

i wanted to write about how we don't really touch

the spaces between atoms do not allow it

i read that somewhere

between midtown and brooklyn

[listsforthefuture]

ignore my cruelty and anger

i am between phases

i choose you

[listsforthefuture]

we do so well apart

it's not real

every meeting is a honeymoon

it's not real

every goodbye isn't final

it's not real

[listsforthefuture]

when did you know

you wanted me

you didn't want the freedom of being alone