Don't leave me, as you know they have before. These seasons have weathered me— I no longer open my door, nor come fervently knocking on yours. Hide away the things I wish to forget As I live within the life you’ve no heart to quit. I place myself in sweet words that were never mine to keep, Though you still lift the blanket back onto my shoulder If I begin to weep. I’ve shown you my thin skin and bruises Though it's easy for you to turn blind. Clasped hands 'round yours unraveling threads, I smile, "Let's leave our pasts behind." Because Poetry is Honesty And I’m different from them: I’m still here To see through the lies And face all of our weaknesses and fear. Though I am no Wonder Woman, I try ne’er falling to despair, I hold close this budding bond Dust-encrusted And so rare, Then remember the times we'd said "together." It resonates mildly in my marrow. Penetrate me deeply with Achilles' arrow. Fighting battles that are not mine, I had joined your side. Reluctance and resignation only when you say "Goodbye." Still I promise “Never,” "Forever" And still I don't let go... Though which of us hangs off this cliffside? What end must lie below? The emptiest I ever felt were my dusks without you. Still, our minds so exhausted, You were not perfect, and I knew. I welcomed it, every bit, Uncertain only by my own flaw And in those poems you didn't write for me, And in the nightmares that I saw.