Bring Offerings of Zebras, Elaine

No one deserves you.
No one is too good for you.

You make me cool as Lou Reed
and funny as dogs with drawn on eyebrows
and happy as a little kid for a little while.
You make all those strangers my friends.
You make this gross place a set
from an artsy coming-of-age drama.
You make me who I want to be
without you.

You take away my embarrassment
and my withdrawnness
and my awkwardness
and my angst
until only a boy remains,
a boy in love
with the world
and his friends
and the future
and you,
until sleep overtakes him
and bleary reality returns.