things
have changed now

years later and i have these
violent, tender things
strangling and
blooming simultaneously

my pale, thick
legs and bruised arms
and the hollows under
my eyes are fighting
a vicious war against
the desperate, wide-eyed
pleadings of my head.

these desperate, cheering lavender flowers.

petals sprout from your fingertips
and they move across my body
in waves of longing and desire
bright blooming in the cold hollows
between my bones
where light has never shone

the way sparks fly from your
eyes sets me aflame from the
sweat of my hair, to the
crooked edges of my fingernails to the
soft sinew of my calves

you’ve created a world anew
in between the
whispers of my fears and insecurities