Your nails were
soft pink crescents

they chafed
along my cheek.

You plucked
the silken petals

watched them wither
at your feet.

I fed you dandelions,

Picked stems
from your teeth

with my tongue.

But in the creases

of your mouth,


I saw the weeds of doubt.

Waxwork crystals
on window panes
and ledges
collecting sun
in precious hexagons
to return
illusive light
of feverish summer
to an earth that’s
lost its luster.

grasping
clutching
ribs expand
over
frenzied
beating hearts
forcing amber sparks
through burning veins
you've turned my will
to fire
with your touch

i see triumph
in your eyes
as beleaguered souls take flight
their flame-lapped talons bear
our husks of memories
away from this destruction.

feather kisses on fevered wrists
courage on coal-smudged cheeks
I turn to you and learn to fly—
escape these smoldering ruins
like fledglings born again

trust in newfound wings,
our scars and burns forgotten
smoke and flames still in your hands
so let me hold them, let me soar

live in the sky again

I believed that I was done
wasting thoughts on you

but memory is relentless.

you said
"i am afraid of a love like ours"

we have yet to fail
i have yet to falter

sleep
breath
remain

one more year
if i try
i can collect
enough to last forever

do not falter
i will not fail

just sleep

breathe

stay.

I remember very little.

A hug of tweed
a porcelain sparrow.

Everything burns like a cigarette,
but you tasted better.