You hold lies in your hands, like aces

they grow like Chrysanthemums

a word that you learnt to spell, at school

scarred on your memory like a bad trip  

pass me a card,

and I will feed and water it

tend to it daily

in hopes that it may just bloom

into something beautiful

I wake up to your face each morning,

your hair creating red flames across a cotton white pillow,
your eyes, deep blue, luring me to stare into the depths
of the ocean, to be serenaded by mermaids,
your lips taste of coffee and cigarettes
as I plant a good morning kiss onto them,

this is a sight I want to see before I breathe
my very last breath,

I take it in, each detail
and fingerprint it on my memory,

you are more beautiful in this raw moment
than you could ever be

any other way

Do not compare me to a summer’s day

for I am a storm

incoming

ready to consume everything in my path

your heart included

I am not subtle, sweet or warm

I am fierce, loud, overwhelming

I will devour your

soul

and leave it singing only

for me

a diamond in the rough -
I took a chance
ruby stained lips -
my hearts second glance

we painted the town as if
red was the colour of timidity
our shadows forever glowed
with a blue halo

but now we're older
past thirty, at least
and we're tired of chasing stars
being chased out of bars

"let's settle down"
you say
and I can imagine it
wild hearts - tamed by age and exhaustion
free spirits - locked in by doors and windows

but I've found my diamond
and will wear it on my heart
into old age and mundanity

wrinkled hands clinging tightly to each other
hot mugs of tea and newspapers on a Sundays
our last breath, shared

what if I'd been born
twenty years before you
and missed you

let us watch the infinite night sky

and pick which constellation
we are going to set our love against

the stars sing our names

and the moon reminds us
that every phase is part of
a whole picture

growing, healing, moving

with the ocean

and in the beating of waves
we find clarity

in the end
the only love that you’ll remember

is the kind that made your heart break
with each act of kindness, or cruelty

made your lungs burn, as you gasped for air
between each kiss

made you feel like you were going to die
each morning, when you said goodbye

that kind of love
is the only love that will leave
fingerprints on your mind

a stitch, to unpick
patching up my heart
arteries combusting
explosions of red hot anger

a scream, to echo
in the dusty chambers of the void

a hand to hold
knowing that everything that has a beginning,
has an end

yet still, we love

fiercely
ferociously
frantically

hoping there will be a star with our name on it
when the world implodes