baby skin repulses
turns to coral-colored tile
under your wing shaped
collarbone

            but i don't feel safe

you breathe a new film
onto my watering eyes
you show me
these are just the ghosts
of other people's lovers
solidity will come one day
send shocks through
all that is dead and alive
like the Apocalypse

            i think this is love
            because i want to hold you for eternity
            though you've been walking steps ahead
            for just as long

the giveaway must have been
that last octopus kiss
stuck on my lips
before you descend to depths
where i can no longer kiss you back
i cram both scientific text
& fairy tales down my throat

            head stays up
            nothing escapes
            or maybe just a syllable at a time
            can diffuse into your short-term memory

prayers clenched in one hand
for the next run
failed electrocution
once again
wires in my bone marrow

            was it 12.12.12 or
            12.21.12?

i have no choice
but to wake up tomorrow morning
& see my exoskeleton has collapsed
leaving the suspicious outline
of jagged teeth

            heart clambers up
            the rungs of my rib cage
            the rhythm puts us both to sleep.

i am passive
all of my questions
were answered a long time ago