black coffee
bookstores
cheekbones and cracked lips
i am sick

i lie about being a bad liar
and people believe me

i go through boyfriends
like i go through cigarettes.
i am just another dead battery to you.

the maggots are eating my heart
they think i am dead
i breathe in the dirt
i let you in first
i need you
to make me hurt

morning dew glistens
on my under-eye purple moons
listen.
hear?
it's tranquil.

i forgot you were still haunting me
you're the figure i see in the dark, the man standing under the streetlight with the reflective halo hovering his head
you're the fire burning in the pit of my stomach
i threw up on that same street

Defense against the worthless
The mistaken
The pure
The biting of nails and procrastinating
Losing keys yet finding them in the *** of tea you’ve been meaning to put away for weeks
Never texting that one person back because you’re “too busy”
Sleeping only for twenty minutes
And waking up at 5:00 p.m
On the kitchen floor
After burning, itchy eyes
Because you couldn’t find the motivation to close them