you stained me
like napkins you

wipe around your lips,
crumpled and thrown away.

a lump in my throat
some nights you set me on fire

some nights you freeze me
with your words

i couldn’t walk away
i couldn’t set things straight

for each time i take one step forward
i take two steps back.

i made a thousand paper cranes inside
my head hoping that wishes

could somehow
be granted because legends tell us so

i guess legends
are legends for a reason.

i am not a phase of your life
nor a moment that would just

pass like days and nights i feel empty
after you shoved the life out of me.

i am not a jolt,
a spark, that surprise you

for a moment that’s soon forgotten
i am more than a moment—

i am an experience, i breathe life,
i am capable of reading between the lines.