His Boyfriend

His boyfriend makes less money than him
He doesn't do his hair
He doesn't care
He doesn't dare wonder why I'm hanging around
He thinks he's grounded
But he's really surrounded by his man's past
When at last he realizes it
One of them is going to be ready to quit

His boyfriend is his Facebook pic
His boyfriend is his solar system

He plants candy hearts
In sallow ground
Thinking they'll grow
Into Hallmark cards

He doesn't know they talk about him at parties
He doesn't know he's one room away from the truth
He doesn't know about me or you or the parade going by
Nor does he wonder why he can hear whispers
Whispering that the ring on his finger
Has another man's name scraped off underneath

His boyfriend is his status
His boyfriend keeps him high

How many high fives 'til your hand gets sore
How many doors close because your boyfriend's scared of your success
How many messes do you have to clean up
Before the fucking doesn't measure up to the fucking up
Sucking up to his parents
Hoping they'll like you
More than the last guy he screwed

His boyfriend is his roommate
His boyfriend is his Marc Jacobs bag

All his friends are fake
All his waking hours are spent
Looking at the guys who came and went
And most are better looking than him
And he can trim himself down to a six pack and pecs
But he knows he's next and not next to last
Not even, not even close

All the clothes in the world
Wouldn't stop him from losing out
To a boy or a girl or a job
Or an idea or a theory
Or a good movie
Or an undiagnosed psychiatric condition

He makes videos to show that he's a star
And he goes viral while not seeing
That they get stoned and see him seeing himself
Ready to shelf him on the dusty edge
And hope that he'll fall down

His boyfriend is a series of nicknames
His boyfriend is a footnote

He'll gloat until the time runs out
Until another rung on a better ladder
Or a badder idea
Comes along
For a ride

Then he'll decide
If he was his boyfriend

Or something else entirely