Love like a cigarette

Hot and fast
Killing softly and slowly
Watch each lover disappear quicker than the smoke
But feel their presence in the way their scent cloaks you
And the way their taste lingers on lips once they’re gone

Love like summer’s thunderless rain

Hot and fast
Early mornings with windows open
When the entirety of the world is in rhythm with the droplets above your bedroom and the rise and fall of breath beneath sheets

Love like the sun loves shade

Hot and fast
Able to rest easy on the brink of blindness
knowing when to leave shadow behind

Love innocently like you did your childhood ghosts

When the bumps in the night were more than water heaters
when imaginary and unreal were labels only those who outgrew themselves used