His marathon heart
beats strong and fast,
enough to shake the entire bed.
She aspires to catch up.

But her heart is spent,
marred and out of shape.
she tires of conditioning
her weakening, stilling heart.

Skip to the epilogue:
She's trained so hard to reach no results,
so he lets her pass.
That gold medal still gives her a rash.

Burning her fingertips,
while testing the radius of the flame's heat,
until it meets the end of a Marlboro.

"Happy new year!"
Fireworks ignite,
and she has her first kiss with nicotine.

How can something both scald and soothe?
At least she's conquering her commitment issues.

the one in the middle of the yard.
They cut it down,
and replaced it.

I recognized the coverup:
New genus,
new species.

There was nothing wrong with your tree.
I won't put you in the ground;
even that seems only a temporary placement.