It's at times like these...
when your hair lies in shreds on the ground,
that I have to tell myself that I am useless in this situation
and that there is nothing wrong with being so.
Because
I can't force myself to check in on you every minute,
because I simply cannot trust myself.
How can I save you if every time I see a tear fall down from the heavens,
I stick my neck out onto the tracks,
so I slice in half?
How can I save you, if I would force myself into the blistering heat of an oven,
just to cool down my thoughts?
And yet, even though I scream this at you,
you still expect me to pick up that needle and that thread,
and the outdated burn cream from the cupboard
and fix myself so I can soothe you instead,
ignoring my gashes, my revolting, rotting, diseased mind,
and lie in bed with you,
like lovers in a coffin,
just so you can fill my head with tales of YOUR woe,
like flowers on a deathbed?

And yet, as angry and as frustrated as I get,
I would still unravel my bandages and use as them as a makeshift pillow
for your weary head,
and I smile as you
You to grab the knife you aim at your own heart,
twist it around and stab me,
and even though we fight, and we scratch and I
curse our love,
I still want to save your soul,
even though mine is lighter.
And yet, once again, here I am,
sleeping outside your bedroom door,
in case I hear the thud of a stool being knocked over,
and the silence that follows the hollow dread,
in case I hear the wallpaper peel at the horror it see's,
the scene of my lover,
hanging from a fan by their own hair,
And I know you know that I'm there,
I can feel your presence on the other side of the wood,
I see your shadow under the door,
and as I see you walk away from under the crack,
I, myself, stand up.
Grab a dustpan and brush, and sweep up your broken heart,
and slide it under the door with the plaster that I just used to heal my own throbbing head,
holding the shattered pieces together.

And, after that, I walk away.
Because I'm allowed to rest.
I'm allowed to love myself more than I love you.