i feel for you a tender feeling
i wish i could crush inside my palm
          to have and to hold,
not even a baby bird is so fragile
                  from this day forward,
cradled in shaking cupped hands
not yet, not yet
i repress the urge to smother,
                       for better, for worse,
fix my gaze as it starts to scream, contort
into the thing i wait, poised, to ****
            for richer, for poorer,
used to wait for the day i could proclaim
                   in sickness and in health,
with every conviction and fibre of my being
that it is real and it is good
          to love and to cherish
not anymore, i think
inhibition mechanism, top-notch
i file my nails and sharpen my teeth
hold my breath and count back from ten
once this ends
     till death do us part
i go in for the ****