she was falling through constellations
like tissue paper;
she found herself feeling too human;
not human enough.

let's jump fearlessly into the galaxy next door.

i am falling in love with the way he stands so self-assured, two feet planted in the ground as if he has always been here. he is the empire state building and i am just another
breathless
tourist.

i have come to hate
the way your lips catch
on the corner of your words
or the nape of my neck,
yesterday
i unbuttoned your ribcage
and crept into your skin
but everywhere i searched
i wasn't -
the final blow
was not the absence of myself,
it was not your cancerous grief,
but in the bellows of your torso
buried in your bones:
i read her name
and felt nothing.

gritting our cigarette teeth
pretending like we don’t know
that we’re just killing ourselves
hanging languidly from my
bruised lower lip
and tracing shadows on my tongue -
when we were younger you told me
that you wanted to be johnny cash
and that i could have been your june
but, i replied, i’ve never much
liked the summer.