I look for you
in the darkness
of my shadow
and rain drops
are dripping from
my closed curtains.
I can't see anything.

All I find is myself
and the terrible truth
of who I am.

We were scared of
each other at first.
But then we recognized
ourselves in our eyes.
We sat there in silence,
and our pupils dilated to
the edges of our eyes
as we strained to see
into one another.

I was hoping
it wasn't as ugly
on the inside.

Your skin is burned
and blackened, rough
and calloused, scattered
with sweltering welts
spitting seemingly
ceaseless smoke from
their cancerous mouths.

But in my shadow
we've been turned inside out.
What we see is inside us.

I held you in my arms,
covered in pus and bile.
What happened to us?!
I wailed over you and
my snot and tears
healed your wounds.