When the numb of fingers bites
frost from fonts and phones,
and fistfuls of first-date receipts
autumn to the pavement

Keep your heart caged by its ribs
and off your sleeves and sheets

When your nervous eyes boudoir
for lack of depth or empathy
despite vows and rings
of plain and gold

Keep your gaze pinned to quilled-syringe
and “once-upon-a-time’s” being once-a-time too many.

When you forget how the heather-greyed
eyes of boys hummingbird the beat
of your chest, and even sooner they remember their girlfriends
leaving you to clean up their mess

Remember, love unrequited
is quiet outside of a poet or silver screen.

Remember you cannot fall in love
with the sigh of a man on the Path

or the apology of a boy
who bumps into you on the 15 items or less lane at the market.

When you grab the bottle of cheap champagne
or the bowl of purple smoke to forgive
the boys that took from you what was not
yet yours to give.

Dry your eyes. Stop doubting yourself enough
to fall for another man that will never catch you.

When it is just
a little crush
gold-plated
and new

Tread lightly through these clouds.
You must enjoy the butterflies
before they lose their wings.

Originally published at: http://selfiesinink.com/post/63437196413/roberto-santiago-advice-for-a-boy-crazy-poet-or-some