Detrimental to my skin are the caged beaks,
clawing from beneath, scratching bruises
in shades only I can feel.
My overgrown feathers wrap around me,
a shroud and a shield—
enough to hold me, yet never enough to choke.

If only they would.
If only they’d cover me whole,
cocoon me in darkness
until I am nothing but breathless night.

But instead, I find myself longing to be suffocated,
not by this cold weight but by soft hyacinths,
their petals brushing my feet,
closing around me like a final kiss from the earth.

Let them rise, lilac and violet,
fragrant like memories—
until I am overcome, gently,
by something that wants to hold,
not harm, as I do.

I recognized it—that other soul was yours, dipping near mine,
Rare like the moments when stars brush the earth.

I’ve taken you into me, as much mine as my own skin,
You breathe with the glimmer of a falling star.

You brushed the earth once more in your quiet brilliance—
Such a constellation you are to me, and more.

Born quick-witted, but now too tired to speak,
This world drags me down into silence so deep.
The people, their words, like soil in my veins,
Until I couldn’t breathe, now I just feel the chains.
I sink into bed, a prisoner to the voices,
No escape, no choices.

I once begged the sun to tear through the night,
But even that struggle feels too far from sight.
Once a typhoon, I raged, I drowned in its form,
Now the rain softly falls, dulled and worn.
It seeps into my skin, a quiet decay,
Lingering forever, with nothing left to say.

My perfect face, my perfect form,
It’s been some time since you crossed my mind.
My perfect eyes roam, longing for features that will never be mine,
Yet I am not sad; I carry the essence of my kind.

I wish I didn’t dwell, though I was sailing well on this rocking ship.
My mirror lies beside me, a truth I yearn to eclipse.
I could seize it now, as effortless as dispersing a speck of dust.

My perfect face, my perfect form become what I wish,
I hate to love you and ache for your kiss, but...

In reverie, I plait your name with mine,
Our hearts aligned beneath a silver line.
The stars above, they waltz in velvet skies,
And in your arms, the world in silence lies.
A whispered breath dissolves the air we know,
Time slips away, as moments softly glow.

Like driftwood, carried by the moonlit sea,
The waves embrace our fragile destiny.
Beneath the tides, where silent dreams unfold,
A fleeting warmth amidst the ocean’s cold.
Yet still, within your gaze, I drift, serene,
A quiet light within the vast unseen.

I hand-stitched you to my heart, threaded like the gods make their rules from above.
Oh, my delicate wonder, do you wander where my mind dares not rove?
All my preposterous atrocities are mine to give, and for you to love—
But will you love them?—is my wonder. Yes, you will—the Fates weave.

Oh, my tragic imperfections, you stand like my Trojan horse,
A gift of beauty, yet ruin hides within,
If your eyes could pierce the veil of my sin,
Would you fall as Troy did, or rise once more?

I feel the wound, fragile but bold,
Our names to be written on a grave, together etched in gold.
Side by side, we’ll lie beneath the earth’s embrace,
Two bound by fate, neither time nor death can erase.

As we march toward the end, hand in hand with fate,
Two souls entwined, neither early nor late.
And when death whispers, we shall not part—
For love, like legend, buries us both in heart.

My lids rise soft to frosted space,
Where absence dwells yet holds your place.
I see your face, so sweet, so dear—
Soft as petals, ever near.

Your breath, my favourite rhythm’s song,
A lullaby I’ve loved so long.
Your cheeks rest gently on the bed,
A pillow blessed beneath your head.

In this dream’s haze, I draw in close,
My lips to yours, a butterfly’s ghost.
And now I wonder, could it be?
Perhaps the pillow is worthy of thee.

We burned for a moment, then you pulled away,
Returned to the dance where your lies led the way.
What I called love, you twisted to your cruel charade—
You left me once more, and still, I stayed.
I clung to the echoes of your bitter refrain,
Masked you as breath, though you brought only pain.

To you, I was a ghost adrift in your dream,
A shadow that whispered where nothing's as it seems.
I don’t miss you now, nor dwell on your face,
But I wonder—what thrill did you find in this chase?
Was hurting me easy, a means to an end,
Or did you believe the lies you pretended to send?

I waited in darkness, a flame nearly gone,
Yet found in the ashes the will to move on.
Now you are the one who’s lost in the night,
Chasing my shadow, lamenting your plight.
You cry, "How could you turn and leave me this way?"
But the hurt you inflicted has led you astray.

Did it ease your own torment, or calm your regret?
Was it solace you sought, or something darker yet?
For all of your leaving, and all of my trust,
What did you gain by grinding me to dust?

Am I a Hyacinth in a field of lies,
Or a shadow that blooms where the daylight dies?
You call me beautiful—a rose without thorns—
But roses are wilted, and petals are worn.
Let the wind shut your eyes as night butterflies soar;
They flutter on secrets, but I ask for no more.

The mirror whispers what I wish not to hear—
That beauty is borrowed, that truth disappears.
Yet I’ll play the charade, wear the mask till it cracks,
For a lie is much kinder than what reality lacks.
I know where deception and desire entwine,
But I’ll drink from that cup and call it divine.

In a world where the surface is all that they see,
What harm in pretending that mask is me?
They say looks can deceive, but darling, so can the mind—
So let them believe in what’s easy to find.

Grief-stricken, I clawed my way from the roots of the earth,
The cadence of my thoughts slowed, a murmur in the hush.
How strange—the absence of absence, the hollow space where shadows
Once drifted like smoke, now filled with an uneasy light.
Relief woven with a longing I can’t quite shake.

I was held captive, a willing prisoner of the gloom,
Addicted to its weight, to the darkness like a drug.
It wrapped around me, a cold and familiar lullaby—
Or was I the one who fed it, needing its grip to feel alive?

Now that it’s gone, I miss it from time to time,
My truest form of love—why did you leave me here,
To navigate this world of light that feels sharp and unkind?
Your absence lingers, a void I struggle to fill.

“What about me?” it whispers, lingering like a half-remembered song.
I crave that dark familiarity, though I know I shouldn’t—
It’s the chill beneath my skin, a weight that kept me anchored,
A presence I knew too well, even as it smothered me.

To love is to feel, pain is in its wake,
Sometimes the shadows of heartache
Cloud my vision, my joy they might take,
But I remember what’s at stake.

Our love may not be perfect, it might be flawed,
But it's the purest love I've ever known
But in no universe are we not together,
In no life, no realm, are we not forever.

As rocks, as butterflies, as cats and as seasons,
We find our ways back, no matter the reasons.
Though the winds of change may blow,
Our love remains, our roots always grow.

I used to think I knew what love was,  
Until I felt my heart begin to fall for you.  
It was like watching a sunrise burst across the horizon,  
So easy, so beautiful, and so effortlessly true.  

Each moment with you feels like a piece of heaven,  
Each glance in your direction, the greatest blessing I've known.  
Just the sight of you is enough to fill my soul with light,  
To know I've found my heart's true home.  

Your presence is a tapestry of formosity,  
A beauty so profound, it's beyond simple words.  
I know it's not a common term, yet it's perfect to describe  
How you've become the melody my heart has always heard.

A torrent of tears breaks the dam of despair,
Each friend a dagger in the darkened air.
Unlovable? I curse the stars that bind,
A prophecy whispered, a torment entwined.
I scream to the void for the numbness of night,
Worn by the ghosts who vanish from sight.
Trust turned to ashes, heart buried in dread,
Craving the silence that sleeps with the dead.

The air, once thick with solitude, now spins
a riveting breeze through guarded hearts and skins.
We spoke in currents, our words like woven lace,
and now my restless mind finds its rightful place.
Yet still, my thoughts drift like ghosts on hollow ground—
Is this a fragile dream, destined to break back down?