A stagnant pond
It would be nice
Apply slight effort and it might sustain life.
Two lilies, a goldfish maybe.
Over two years it's been sitting here
The lining is intact
The pump will work once cleared of its leaves.
But don't touch the water-
It might **** you

I lay in the sun
watching my skin tan,
I admire the way body looks with a bit of color.
Confident.
Inside, I would see my skin had burned
Like icarus, I felt indestructible
Unafraid of the sun
I stand in the mirror;
assess the severity of my reddened chest
The mirror pulls me into a time 3 year past
I recall how, in your presence
I felt different
Confident.
I wasn't alone- you doubly so
I was accepting of the facts
It was not until I went inside
could I see how I had been burned

I remember the way you looked at me when I stepped out of the bathroom in the early morning.
For a moment, the steam trailed behind me like a veil.
You looked at me with a sense of amazement; as if I was directing each molecule of steam
As if this was the grand entrance on my world tour.
I tightened my lips to smile, and you returned to spreading the peanut butter across your toast.

Again. I feel your shirt between us like a barrier
I lean in,
whisper:
"Baby, compared to me you are all fat."
I won't deny the few extra pounds you carry around your waist, but that is not what i see.
Or, what i want to see.
I want to see the entire body that contains your soul.
I want to touch the muscles that surround your heart.
I have given myself to you a hundred times but I don't know if you have chest hair.
Can I even call myself your lover?