I was never made with wings,
so I hadn't known a life other than
the one made of dirt.
I wanted a companion,
but I fell in love with a bird,
whom would never be happy
with the ground.

I’m not preoccupied with skin you see,
just what’s beneath it.
And it would be nothing more than a lie to deny
just how much I crave to be the blood
that courses through your veins.
Not to give you life or be it,
but to search and discover every inch of you
the very sun may not have kissed.

Strike me as you would a match,
against the surfaces of your skin.
Not once, but many times
Until we catch fire.

I remember those three words
twisting knots in my gut
Billowing over my self-proclaimed walls
of self-loathing. I didn't want to say it, but
the closer I got to you, the closer I became
to binding the rope of my social noose.

Those words festered at me like an infection and
I knew this truth would overtake me.
My heart ripped through flesh and fibers
until love was no longer in the closet,
but staring back at me through brown eyes.

I wanted you to admire the
bare bones and brush strokes
that painted me woman

So I disrobed.

But more than wanted,
I desired you to seize me
as a victor does his spoils

So I withdrew my weapons.

But more than seize me,
I craved that you’d relish me
as the chef savors his dish

So I lied and said I didn't love you.

And that’s all you needed
to eat your fill of me
Until gluttony left
nothing but skeletons in your bed.

I found myself begging to fall further
into this reoccurring dream and in it,
our secret love affair.
Days last too long and nights too short.

Echoes of your voice swim through
me like the sun through linen;
Your kiss answering questions
I hadn't dare mention.

The anticipation I feel waiting
for our dreaming meet,
I suppose is the same that a match would,
when it finds itself longing to be lit.

Come to me sweet vision, I plea.
Tonight or any...
Strike yourself against me-
through my crowded mind.
Let's catch fire again.

I can’t tell you how often I yearned to be her cigarette.
Clasped between her fingers,
delicately placed and savored;
******* all that I had into her.

And as much as I wanted to fall into the creases
that parted each lip,
I wanted to be the first thing she tasted
when she drew her morning breath
And her every exhale to cover me like skin