darkness yields to daylight,
ushering in a budding warmth
riding the suns coattails

you catapult me into A-fib,
no stethoscope needed
to hear my erratic beats

i lie here waiting,
bleeding sunsets
so that you might play doctor
to my aching skin,
your practiced touch
cauterizing my wounds
into early morning hours

i’d like to try my hand at a mallet,
tapping ever so lightly
on that gossamer-coal crust
you’ve encrypted ‘round your chest cavity,
see if it might crack just a bit
at my not-so-innocent prodding

pump your veins full of moonlight
let your beast drink me in with the stars

remember,
lungs find the inhale and exhale difficult
when there are punctures left in their lining

try to leave mine in tact
when you go
don’t steal my breaths
even if i make it easy

i have a foreboding instinct
staples and glue
won’t be enough to repair me
when you exit

... my, how the tables have turned