Once upon a time
There is a horse
Curious and free-spirited
The other animals love her
And she loves them
Yet she keeps her distance to protect herself

In the same once upon a time but far away from the horse
There is a goat
Soft but determined
The other animals love him
And he loves them
So he embraces them as their leader

In the same once upon a time in the same place
The horse meets the goat and they dance
As you can imagine
It is a spectacle for a horse to dance with a goat
So it is for the horse and the goat in the once upon a time
The vortex of their opposing energies spins them around one another
Unable to pull away

Until the goat’s once upon a time in another place calls him home
He ends their dance
But not their pull to one another
Unable to look away
Fascinated by the other’s body
The other’s movement
The other’s spirit
The horse watches the goat
And the goat watches the horse
Both waiting for a chance to dance again

you will never
touch him
the yearning in your breast
the tingle of your flesh
he will never
glide his hands along your silhouette

you will never
kiss him
the desire burning in your core
the ache of your body to press against another
he will never
inhale you as his lips devour yours

you will never
let go of him
the heaviness in your chest
the invisible breath along your neck
he will forever
float beyond your grasp to haunt you

the beauty of the
word heaviness - it sounds as
heavy as it feels

A moment
Beyond the people
Beyond the manufactured noise
Beyond the cement and plastic landscape

Armed with pepper spray for the bears
And a knife for the boys
Just in case
I run my hands over the world

heartbreak is a cute term
don’t you think?
when really it is
knotted stomach
caving chest
gasping lungs
they call it
heartbreak
but your entire
body
collapses
into itself with
unrequited longing

I turn my feelings into words not
to give them to you but
to give them to the universe
praying she can lighten the weight of my heart

They say you will treat me how
I let you

I let you
melt me
when I kissed you and
you swore the lights flickered like magic
I let you
warm me
when I told you I ate lunch in the middle school bathroom alone and
you murmured you would join me
I let you
ignite me
when you asked me to slow-dance
in the park pavilion
in the living room
in the stars of the red rock wilderness

But when I promised you were special
I let you
say nothing