warning signs

Have you ever seen those tags
attached to hair dryers?
You know, the ones that warn
you not to shower while
drying your hair?
What concerns me most about
that is that if I have to assume if
there's a warning on it
it probably means that someone was
dumb enough to try it.

Like those boxes on application
forms
that are only big enough for
one letter
and for some reason
there are specific directions
that say to ONLY FILL IN ONE
LETTER PER BOX
so there must be some idiot
trying to fit all of the letters
of some ridiculously long name
like
Schwarzenegger
into one teeny tiny little letter sized box

and the idea that these
things need to be reiterated seems
so ridiculous to me
when people
don't come with those warning
labels

like road signs for relationships
"slippery when schizophrenic"
or
"has a girlfriend

and doesn't care"

I have to warn you
that I don't come with one either
but I believe in being fair
so here is my warning sign
for you:

don't get involved with me
boy
I'm no good for you
See I have a penchant for
fucking up a good thing
and you are some
awful beautiful shit
that I can't shake

kind of like
stabbing myself in the leg
is excruciatingly painful
but the blood
on concrete looks beautiful
on frames of celluloid
spinning at 24 per second

like 5 scoops of ice cream
seems
like a good idea
before we go on this
rollercoaster
and it lands in an amusement
park wastebasket

I am all wrong for you
and I don't come with the warning
tag that I should so I'm telling you now
I am an awful beautiful mess that looks
best after she has just fucked up again
and I don't want to put you on any list
of one night some nights morning after what’s his names
but I can read it off to you so you
can cross all the others off in red pen
and I promise I will try not to add any more
in fact
crumple the paper up and throw it
away

don't let me near a pen and pad

see I am just looking for someone
to be better for
I tried it already myself
but I can never hold me
accountable
maybe if the stakes were higher
than my face in the mirror in the morning...
like yours in my bed--
maybe then I could shape up

I want to sleep next to you
fully clothed

I don't know why I fuck strangers
to feel sexy
but I can tell you right now
I felt more beautiful
in your embrace
and a winter coat
with sleep weighing down my
eyes
than I did naked
as he traced my shoulder blades
under the flattering
glow of
candlelight

Maybe you could give me
a chance to
be beautiful in the daylight
instead of creeping around
under the moon like I always do
even with you
but we could take
a walk in the park
or go to a book signing
out for coffee
or to the zoo

and you could hold my hand
notice the sun getting caught
in my curls
know me by sight
instead of touch

maybe that beautiful wouldn't
be so awful

maybe, but
baby you're young
so I'll tell you the
one thing I've learned
that maybe you haven't yet

see, when someone tells you
they're no good for you
that they'll only break your heart
that they're a mess you don't want
to get close enough to to fix
that they're awful beautiful poison
with no elixir and a bitter aftertaste
they're probably right

baby,
trust me on this warning tag
I know it may sound silly
like you should know better
but remember
that tag is there for a reason:

if it needs to be said
it means someone was dumb
enough to try it.