I never wanted a hero.
I'm no damsel in distress.
All I wanted was a place
a safe place without duress.

everyone always says
its supposed to feel like fireworks
when he finally says those three words
for the first time
on a park bench, in his car, at a fast food restaurant after your senior prom
but no one ever tells you
that it'll feel like fireworks
when he chokes out those three words
for the last time
and the explosions will get louder and louder
as you watch his car
drive away
down your street
and then suddenly

silence

i never felt at peace
in the large white church
with marble pieus
and stain glass windows
that scattered rubies and emeralds of light
across the skin of my thighs

i never felt at peace
on my knees
with head bowed in silence
eyelids fluttering as i pretended to pray


but the first time
you took my hand in yours
the loudest silence filled my ears
as the voices in my head stopped their chatter
and i wonder if anyone has ever told you
that your voice
is their church
that the sound of your laugh
is their holy water
and that when you take their hand
they feel as if they are being forgiven.

Sticks and stones
May break my bones
But words
Will always **** me

Amongst the debris, the ash, the embers, lies the very foundation of who we are apart and the inferno we are together.

But I don't want you
to think this is me pouring
my heart out to you.