i still admire the innocence in others
objectively,
like watching a movie already knowing the ending
but still suspending my disbelief for a few seconds of tenderness
where skin doesn’t feel like sandpaper
and nails against dry clay
(a feeling you never got used to.)

a relief to think that somebody must exist with purity, a somebody, truly
for somebody
else
before they have withered
before they have been neglected to be
placed in direct sunlight