There is an animal
that loiters inside of me
and it takes shelter in these
broken blood vessels
you left on my neck

It sleeps
on the words
you left on
my pillow

It is a guessing game
of whether
I will awake
to your silhouette
in the dark
peacefully, deliriously

I swear
in those moments
if I blink
you will disappear

So this animal
it must hibernate
out of biological
instilled and
predetermined fear
that I cannot make
you reappear
again

It is both the paranoia
of an
unmastered magic trick
that makes this animal run

and the certainty
I felt
when I opened my eyes
one morning
and realized

I had never
quite experienced
a ******* thing
that has
felt even half
*as good as you