​forgive and forget,
or all that's in between
which drifts by the wayside--
the seaside--
the tumbling shore.

i watched my best friend
become best friends with
the sunset on the sand,
where liars and dreamers
spend their days all tossed up--
washed up--
soaked in their own tears.

she told me
i'll never leave you
as she took long steps back,
her stolen grains of contempt--
of fire and love.

i fell in love with her once,
in the ocean of pillows,
of skin and heavy blankets.

​i fell in love with a ghost,
who drifted out to sea
on the sails of forgiveness.

---

Ryan Hutcherson is a seventeen-year-old high schooler from California.