“Old houses mended,
cost little less before they're ended.”
       —Colley Cibber.

When all is said and done,

you’ll stand there like
ancient wood-rot
and I’ll let you fall in ruin.

“You are so easy to break.
Remember that.”

So can I wash you cold and brittle
with your broken hand until you fade?

Can I touch you?
Answer soon.

Can I keep the cracked pieces of paint
around my neck like
a broken rosary until you believe
in me again?

Can I hope?
Answer soon.

I’ve been ransacked, but you waited after
the fact to tell me…

Was it because my house wasn’t what
you thought it was?

“You robbed me of what I had left!”

Now there’s hate and
wrath in every wall
that houses your life now.

Every insecurity, everything
I know of you…

“I’ve locked you in.”*

So can I approach you?
Answer before I **** you.