I used to think
It was good
To be a little of everything
Until you said
I wasn’t enough
Of anything.

You don’t trust
Pierce me with words
Silver tongue sharpened
Clean entrance
Catastrophic exit
I don’t let go
Perforating my edges
If my word will give way
But it won’t.

I have never
Known anyone
Who hated
And loved me
Like you do
The fire keeps me warm
And burns me alive.

Time holds me hostage
Thoughts of you slipping
Through concrete fingertips
Please
Just stay.

I guess
The difference
Between you and i is that
You saw fault lines
Where I saw a mosaic.

Fingertips tracing ink lines across your skin
Once nimble now fumbling
Tingling anticipation sharp like papercuts
I keep tracing
Papercuts becoming gashes
Peeling my skin back to the bone
Still tracing
Hands worn down to remnants and bones
You’re already gone
My skin worn out in patches
Pulled taught to my frame
Bones like white stone
Holding my limbs together
Making beauty out of betrayal
Stretching a minute into a lifetime
Bony fingers rapping against a marble chest
Checking for signs of life inside
Crocodile tears on rose-less cheeks
Dark eyes rimmed in bitterness
A wanting mind left alone
How many layers must peel away
Before you see one you want.