you hide them
under tattoos, sleeves, belligerence
as if i wouldn't see
them anyway
as if i wouldn't love
you anyway

let me be your sutures and i will
kiss your scars until they are healed

I.

she was so
beautiful between my
sheets you just
couldn't stand it
you fought for
me first all
wars must end
sometime

II.

                    and wherever
the gods are
they're jealous of
us for loving
so endlessly

III.
                      my
antihero my heart
my backbone my
breastplate my battle
to lose it
was all worth
it

IV.

    for one
night with her

you make me want
to write sonnets
but all i have left
in me are these
ashen tragedies

an empty
takeout box
a heart
drained dry
your ghost
can't ****
me if
the smokes
do it
first give
me a
light and
pretend this
bed isn't
a pyre
in disguise

I.

i cut
my hair
i moved
away i
hid all
my life
and still
you find
me in
my dreams

II.

thirteen years
later trust
is still
a four
letter word
and i
don't drink
milk i
can't look
at Innocence's
face on
the carton

we laid on the bed and didn't touch.
i wanted you to hold me but i was afraid you'd catch this disease i have, apathy.
insomnia and heartache are synonyms,
you told me.
everything looks different in the dark.
you think you know your heart until the blackout illuminates a new one entirely.
i told you i was afraid and you wrote a lullaby down my spine.
that's not right.
everything is different in the dark.
you didn't touch me.
i forgot you didn't touch me.
the loaded question was on your lips as i pressed mine to yours. bang.
kissing doesn't count as touching but you stopped me anyway.
it was raining cats and dogs and you told me to lighten up or it would never stop.
i choked on your tongue and you called it a laugh.
silence is an accent i wish more people had.
you didn't say anything.
you didn't touch me.

you are my Brutus and I love
you more with each blade you slice into
me
23 stab wounds later and I am
made of wax
no longer bleeding or beating but
approaching thermosomatic phase transition when you
burn me alive
strike a match on my cheek light
a cigarette stub it out
my torso your ashtray, my heart a candle
lit vigil
burning low to ignite your frozen ire
I love you classical I love you Brutal I love you Antony
asleep in my tomb I love you buried under
municipal concrete I love you Amontillado I love you simultaneously
Héloïse and Abélard
I love you Delilah and I love you
you
let me count the ways
a six-sided die comes up 23
but my chest is already split open and you forgot
to feed the dog
give me public indecency and walk away
it's not your job to fix every schmuck who comes along
with a missing heart on your
beat