Organic Chemistry Homework


When it snows, 

and this holed, beaten-down jacket of mine

is all covered in white, 

I feel relieved. For a moment, 

my jacket looks like what every other boy on the street is wearing, and

they won’t know that I dance

all my nights away so I can breathe okay 

the next day.

They won’t know that I’m grateful for this snow, 

because I’ve just got a fresh blanket 

to cover me and my mum up tonight.

They won’t know anything, and I’ll just be another kid

doing his organic chemistry homework. I’ll just be another kid trying to finish up his organic chemistry homework.


When I find a guy who doesn’t love me the way 

I love him, I stay with him anyway and I do not leave until 

he throws me away. I kiss him until he drains all the 

warmth and color from my face, but I thank him when he is 

done. 

When the lights dim out at the nightclub and he puts his hand

around my waist, I 

Feel relieved. The theme tonight is sophomore masquerade,

and well, I like to believe that I’m an expert at masquerade balls. I’ve got my moves

pinned down from the top to the bottom, and I can 

pretend like no one else can. I’m in the middle of the dance floor, 

cash raining down the hair that I curled, burned and dyed for a man I do not love,

but no one knows who I am and I know no one.
That’s exactly how masquerade balls are supposed to be, and
I love it. And when the clock strikes eight, I tell them all that I need to go, 

because I’ve still got organic chemistry homework that I need to finish for the morning. I tell them that I’m just another kid trying to finish up his organic chemistry homework, and they believe me.


When my friends go to the beach and build 

sandcastles, I get nervous. I get nervous, because

the sea will eventually wash them away. And when it does, 

I might cry. I’m usually good at pretending and hiding, but 

when my friends go to the beach and build sandcastles, I might slip and cry, because I can’t control how I feel. 

I’m terrified of crying, because if I cry, they will finally find out.

They will finally find out

that my sand castle had been washed away

a very long time ago. Underneath my skin is tumbleweed love, a 

love built for movie scripts and a life built on topsoil. I go where the wind takes me, fly where

the pigeons know best, and love where the sun doesn’t

shine. I’ve gotten so used to this lifestyle that I guess I can call it love.

I cannot live without poverty. He brought me nothing, but he is my everything

and he gave me everything I am. I hope I don’t have his kids. 

He hurts me, but I can never run away. I might have his kids. 

I’ve got to stay right here with him, 

I’ve got to stay and hide,

I’ve got to hide it all or my friends will know that I’m not just another kid

doing his organic chemistry homework.


I’m not just another kid

doing his organic chemistry homework.


I’m not just another kid

trying to finish up his organic chemistry homework,

but more than anything, I’ve always wanted to be 

one. 

I’ve always wanted to be a kid.