I knew
From the moment we met
That you were going to ruin my life
And I was going to let you

I knew
When you picked me up
Your arms wrapped around my body
With the intention of holding
That you were going to drop me
More than once
And I was going to let it happen

See the thing is
You could break both of my legs
Shatter my bones
Into a million pieces
And I would still find a way
To come crawling back to you

Knees bloodied,
Hands torn from the pulling
I’ve never been one
For giving up easily

You could effortlessly
Take my heart and crack it open
Drink its contents
Throw the rest away
And I would still somehow attempt
To give you the remains

Call me selfless
But I am used to giving parts of myself
And receiving nothing in return

You could tie my tongue
My lips, my teeth
Split them into surrender
Into a foreign language
And I would still manage
To cough up your name

I have never learned release
Or let go
I only know stay
You could leave
One hundred times
And I would still wait for your return
With patience

Because kissing without permanence
Is like loving without memory
There is no purpose
If there is nothing to come back to
No reason in attempt
If it is bound to be forsaken

You had no intention
Of staying
This was something I knew
From the moment we met

That you were going to leave
And I was going to let you.

Like matter and antimatter

We were attracted

A scent of cake batter

A disease we contracted

An infection of attraction, recollection of the actions

That we took upon the shores of memories long gone.

And no matter how we try our lives continue to flit by

like photons from a far-away explosion drawn

from the straining of a system (void of friends, and sorely missed them)

The reaction came cascading to a halt.

The galaxy looked down upon us as we walked around.

Together you and I, perfection, to a fault.

Like matter and antimatter, our time together was brief.

There was nothing left of either of us after our chance encounter.

But for only a moment, we shone more brightly than anything in the universe.