i'm scared & i don't
know if it's because you
are so bright & real,
so unlike the toys i'm
used to holding in my
palms.

you are a shining sea
in the midst of the
charcoal thunder growling
over my head, confusing
my direction.

you are a silver dagger
embedded deep in my heart,
something i thought i had lost
a long time ago, deep in the
sugar white sand.

when i wake up, i see you
& when i sleep, i dream of
you, always lingering on
the edge of my tongue, so
sweet, so sharp, so strange.

when i look into your eyes of
ember, i see the entire universe
laid out neatly like a map, ready
to jump in, scared to let go.