There are ghosts in the kitchen cabinets
and Ophelia swims in the sink
you lean against the counter tapping nails against the cold granite
like nails on a chalkboard
like nails running up and down my spine
we are not even hungry, we can't be
not for this
but I'll still bite your lip in the fluorescent light flickering above us
the moths that crept in under the doorway knock against the lamp
the sound of wings against glass
they're so in love with the light that they'll set themselves on fire
and I see your hand on the stove but you don't even flinch
you've always been so warm
there are cracks in the linoleum under our bare feet
we know better than to trip
but no one can stop a grease fire so we find ourselves falling
falling
falling

T minus 15 years
I am screaming, crying, untimely ripped from the first home I had ever known
Born with eyes open, I fight for my first breath. I know I am supposed to live.
T minus 10 years
I have earned callouses on my little hands, toughened the soles of my feet
And now encounter the lullaby of language, the incredible illusion of image
T minus 5 years
I notice shooting stars, and for the first time, they seem within my reach
If I just turn my palms towards the sky, I'll catch a comet before it hits the earth
Countdown complete
The mountains I've climbed are scratched into my soul, and I trek on
Keeping my eyes open, I fight for my each breath. I know I am supposed to live.

You planted kisses
on me like flowers, and from them
a garden grew

Between the angry sea and I
There stands a sturdy barricade
A wall of sticks and bones and teeth
Another fortress that I've made

It starts to sway and bend and crack
As waves beat it relentlessly
I rush up with handfuls of mud
Trying to fight away the sea

Eventually the sky turns clear
I take in the flotsam scene
The ocean outside still churns
Just the sea and I, with a wall between

You can not drink brackish water
Halfway will never be good enough

I'm lying in bed
I want to get up, but God
Is it comfortable

We had made a home out of our love
Big windows and sturdy floors
I looked around and then I found
We had forgotten to put in a door
So we tore down the wooden beams
Holding up the roof we were trapped beneath
Broken glass, the house collapsed
Lying in the rubble, I could finally breathe

(and this is what I do to myself)