There are fewer things
beautiful than ugly,
I know that stars are most
bright when they fall
from impassioned skies,
That when your skin
meets mine, I am like an
amnesiac being returned
a lifetime of memories.

I hate few things,
except, perhaps, the murky
lakes of your eyes,
The misty beaches we
explored until sunrise.
How you pressed your lips
to mine like a death wish,
that it was deplorable,
but we wanted more, more.

My body was a map
you tore apart when you
got tired of exploring it.
The ancient psalms of our
tongues cannot silence.
Ruins of ancient Rome
survive on your lips, yet
you still live, breathe.
You call yourself mortal.

Petals between
My thumb and forefinger

Attempting to remember
What softness feels like

I'm reminded of you and
Your mother's eyes

Forgiveness used to be
An easy task

I was patient and tender
You apologized with flowers

Yet now I
Only know hardness

I am unforgiving
Like your father

You used to say
My skin was the softest substance

I know now I am cold
Like you mother's eyes

You sent me flowers
Last summer

Apologizing with their
Colorfully soft character

I forgave you.
I did.

But this time I cannot
Forgive

It's been over half a year yet
I cannot let it go

If your parents taught me
Anything

They showed me how
To hold a grudge

Hopefully the next time
You pretend I don't exist

You can see
Just how cold I've become

When she looks you up and down
Like the men you cross paths with on the street
Do not cast your eyes to the floor
Stand tall; despite the heat

When your mother tells you to keep your tiny jeans
In hopes of shedding weight like snakeskin
Cut the denim in strips
And place it all around her kitchen

When she throws your baked goods away
And replaces them with everything sugar-free
Send dozens of cupcakes to her doorstep
Then proceed to eat as a hyperbole

When your mother purchases running shoes and sports bras
Walk around the house in your under-things
Lounge in the bathtub with a bear claw
Do not let her control your way of being

And when he leaves just like the rest of them,
Do not let your tongue turn to thumbtacks

Stop trying to pierce the walls with your words
While you shuffle around the coatrack

When he moves thousands of miles away,
Cease to check in on him

Burn his t-shirt you took from his unmade bed
Watch your phone cascade into the depths

Do not wander his old town at night
Looking for the back of his head

Don't you dare knock on his previous roommate's door
Thinking he'll still be there

When he leaves on his "adventure"
Let the planes watch themselves

Let the clouds envelop the cool steel
Stop wondering if he's thousands of feet above

Do not pick up his cologne in the department store
His scent is no longer something you can crave

Do not search for air thick with his vapor
Leave behind his nicotine haze

Wake yourself from dreaming of his hands
Do not imagine his selfish desires

Erase intimate memories in his bed
Because his touch only caused fires

When he decides to leave you behind,
Let him

Then mend your wounds.

I left my favorite band tee
At his house

Unsure of why I brought it
In the first place

It touched his wood floors
Early in the evening

I didn't let one drop
Go to waste

I wore his maroon shirt
To bed that night

Woke to his soft hands
Around my waist

Steam and vapor fogged
The mirror

He smoked his e-cig while
I showered

I watched coffee brew
While he watched me

I left my favorite band tee
On his floor

Coming to a realization
Months afterward

My shampoo sits in
His cupboard

I left my favorite band tee
On his floor

Blood stained his white sheets
Our work incomplete
Best efforts to be discrete

"Did I hurt you?"
Views me as ingénue
Hands holding crimson tissues

This wasn't our first
Not near our worst
But our movements were not rehearsed

Yet I expected to bleed
Before his ever-present need
His hunger now mine to feed

It was my confession -
My exhaled expression
That left reasoning unquestioned

My linguistic fragility
Combined with pure sensibility
Caused a loss of my true virginity