i am shaking.

i cannot feel
your hand around my waist
as you sleep next to me beneath the sheets.

the sirens wailing
past your house this winter night
sound so far away.

i just escaped to the bathroom--
vomiting blood and what little food i ate.
the acid burns.

i'm crying in your bed.
you pull me closer, i feel safe--
but i am still so scared.

you, with the strength you don't know
that you possess,
could teach me so much
that i could never learn.