coming home meant carrying convictions back to the street with me
meant the weight of "******" etched into my shoulders

2. i waited until two days after my two months to celebrate
and two days is all it took for my mom to die while i was too busy with my eyes closed and my back turned

3. i fell in love eighteen times while i was locked up
and it was only after the first six that i realized i only kissed her because she has the same eyes as our daughter

4. nothing about ****** tastes sweet
and nothing about shaking all night tastes sweet either
and so i spent four hours asking myself why i let a girl with my dead baby's eyes kiss smack into my veins

5. there is nothing small about this
it has swallowed me entirely and it is the size of the rest of my life come crashing down

my heart still aches