Valentine's Day Resolution

I have come to terms with the fact

that after me-- and before-- you will always love girls

who can't write,

girls who dye their hardened hair,

girls who wear prints and colors collected from the mall,

girls with Tumblr accounts full of orphaned, untraceable JPGs and GIFs.

You will always love girls who can't write,

and I will only love boys who can't take pictures.

While I'm at it, I'll give up people with ears, too.

People with eyes, people with hair--

ceaselessly, these remind me of you.

I'll give up people with hands, people with bodies,

people who have parents and dogs,

people who walk on the street or breathe air.

From here on out I'll renounce people

with names, people with hometowns,

people with skin, or muscles, or organs;

I will only love people without thoughts,

people without language, without long-held opinions

or email accounts, or telephone numbers.

Starting today, I will only love people

who have never seen the sky,

who have never heard of love,

who have never watched the shutter of a camera flash

always capturing the awkward way my face moves

when I know I'm being photographed and

am terrified that you can tell I'm in love.