Is it still love if my hands burn
After I touch your face?
If all I am is consumed by you,
Do you really think that’s safe?

I don't want to be
Talked down from this ledge
But I may have to,
But it may not go through
The thickest part of my head
Cause the thinnest is
In the back.

I leave it open and exposed
So when your hands
Wrap behind my neck
You can dive them in
Just to see
How little is really left of me
And how much is being replaced
By you.

You touch me and it doesn’t hurt,
I kiss your mouth
And it starts to burn-
It’s a conditioning practice.

I am ready to learn.

I have not grown accustomed
to the sound of your messages.
Their presence did little to assure,
nor did their absence cause unsettling.
Today, however,
I must admit
that I have waited for that bell.
My heart salivated
at the sound of passing bicycles,
hoping finally it was you
remembering the love
you have left waiting.
I wonder:
How could you have conditioned me
to anticipate something
that has never been constant anyway?

for j.e.
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