I wonder if
The cat who stole
Your tongue
Decided to leave it
In a safe place

The dog has been
Nipping at my heels
For some time,
And I'm so tired
That I think
I may just
Let him carry me
For a little while

The words
I should
Have said
Sit in my gut,
Heavy and blunt,
And all I can do
Is tell myself
That I don't have to
Hold onto
Words unspoken
As I try not to
Spill them
On the floor
At your feet

An incessant
Lament radiates
Off of my
Rattling bones,
Echoing in
My hollow chest,
And at times
I cannot seem to
Hold myself
Tight enough to
Stifle the sound
That it makes

I know the way that love tastes
Honeyed fingertips
Pressed tightly to sealed lips

I know the way that love feels
The fluttering of butterflies
And hearts in cages

I know the way that love sounds
Laughter caught in throats
Full of unspoken words

I know the way that love looks
A gleam in the eyes
Casting shadows in the mind

Loneliness on gilded wing
Has nothing but a song to sing
Crooning softly to an evening sky
A dulcet and quite somber sigh
In flight through hues of red and gold
Warbling a tune that none will behold
A requiem from a chorus of one
Beneath the quickly setting sun

When I split myself open
You reached a steady hand
Into a garden overgrown
With briars and stillborn blooms,
Plucking them away
With loving fingers,
Ignoring the wounds
That came from tending to me

Once every wilted vine
Had been cleared
From a trellis made of bones
You began plucking
Even the smallest of thorns
From my punctured heart,
Planting new seeds
In the holes left behind

Then you took my trembling hands
Into your bloodied palms
And showed me how to  
Make a garden grow

©FaerieFoxPoetry