I should tell him all
about how I am 75%
of everything he does
not want, but I need
to believe that I am
made with sea foam
with pollen for blood
with coriander seeds
and pomegranates
that to someone
else I could be
all of these
things.

Is a ball of clay
That yesterday
Was me, today
Is he, and
Tomorrow, she.

Fingers steady,
Lining the ridges
Of his brow in
One palm and
Warming the toes
In the other,

Widening the nostrils:
Allowing breath,
Punctuating mouth with
Subtle string,

Adding sinew to
His shoulders,
And spright to
His knees,

Tapping lightly
On his heart;
Maroon gearing
Rewound lightly
In reverse—
Heartstrings pull
The mouth into
A sneer;

Allow lidded eyes to
Crease; fully
Soften—open up—
Begin.

you make me
shiver.

no warm greeting and bright smile
can thaw your heart
enfolded in ice.
i thought
maybe there's a blizzard blazing in your mind,
burying your hopes in depths of snow
and you've grown
too cold and too numb
to notice.

at the short second you met my gaze,
i saw that your once bright brown eyes
now had a deep shade of blue:
painted with fear and anxiety.
and as you flicked your head away
i felt a chilly gale,
so frigid
it's enough to make any hot blood crystallize

who knew that your silence to me
can sound like a ravaging avalanche, crashing

i don't
want to touch you
for i'm afraid that i would
freeze,
unable to move
on and swallow the cold hard fact that
you really do
not care
for me
at all.

so i'll just huddle to myself,
stay frozen,
and shiver
as i think of the catastrophe
that has happened
to you
and of you.