Before you fall in love with me
you should learn a few things,

like how to live in a shell of thunder storms
or in the breath battered by
whatever drink I could get my
trembling hands on,
you should make yourself at home
so I can too

You should learn how to adjust
your naive eyes to the
darkness in mine
so you can see what lies behind,
so you don't become afraid and hide
and in turn I will reveal myself

You should learn to swim
in my silences, deep
and cold enough to make
your china skin turn blue
and I will hold you in
fiery fingertips
until you're warm

You should learn to live subtly
not only in my reality
but in between the lines
of the sullen poetry
that I write mostly about you
and I will promise you every word

You should learn to push back
with every fiber of your perfect being
when my thoughts get heavy
and I push you so,
so far away