holding hands
in the farmers market
all sweat and skin

the smell of the blue sky
so close
to our intertwined fingers
that we can almost
breathe

and your dimpled smile
made everything perfect

all tangled up and stuck together
with wax

i'm a mess i'll never learn how to clean
and i'm vegan
so i can't use glue

you are so far from me
that i can feel the earth turn

you hid your red flags well
i didn't find them in your avoidance or stale apologies
i couldn't see them when your hands were open in mine
everyone said they should be glaring

but you and i stand under red streetlights, so your flags
look like scarves to wrap our bodies with

it was only when the sun came out
that i could see the blood all around me
and i cried tears of white
i wove them into a flag of my own
wrapped it around your neck to pull you in for a sober goodbye kiss

your ****** tongue dripped, tastefully inviting
but somehow i found the strength to walk away
only looking back once as you stood like a column bearing my white flag
blowing in the wind

saying a few words should be easier than it is
i get lost in concise conversation
i need you to ramble into my ears until our lungs are touching
from sheer lack of airspace

i need there to be more words than air
for our limbs to be tangled in ideas that keep pressing us together
knotted so tight we can finally tighten around all the sound
and make silence

i'm not hungry, i'm just
empty
and now i'm just
sorry i expected you to know the difference

if my stories don't leave you raw
then let me take off your sweater slow enough to feel the goosebumps
before i kiss your skin away

for my tongue tells stories
far louder than i can scream