And before the year had ended, and a new one would begin
You had left my ribcage broken, and sagging lids and skin
Before the year had ended, you had professed you thought
You loved me with lights and your palms left my skin to rot
With each touch I melted, and basked in your great light
And then you walked without a word into the quiet of the night
Before the year had ended you built a tower, tall and strong
You used supports of love and trust so that the tower may be standing long
And then at last, after using your last brick,
You pluck each one standing, using your last trick
The tower came crashing from high into the stars,
Brick by brick, it landed, sticking in the tar
The tower sat in shambles, yet still basked in the light
It could not be rebuilt, with any amount of might
And before the year had ended and the tower had been laid
It sat in awful woe in the questioning of the raid
No matter the reason for the fall, what truly matters is this,
The tower was desperately searching for the unending light of bliss

I can't help but wonder if there's a poster above her bed
which you couldn't stop thinking about
I wonder if it lingers when you're trying to fall asleep
and your heart is tossing and turning in the bed of your chest
while mine sits upright with eyes wide open and burning into my ribcage

there are roses,
tulips, daisies,
and carnations forming
a garden between my ribs,
centrically swirling and
bending to take up every space.

and it looks beautiful but
within i cannot breath due
to the suffocation and sweet
poison of the memories
each flower you gave me
bears.

Up until
a few months ago,
when anxiety
had enfolded itself
around my brittle bones,
when the innumerable
butterflies in my ribcage
had begun
to breathe their last,
when my whole body
had been a gun;
the pen and paper
in my hands were
the only safety switch,
and the poetry I would write
had been my only salvation
from the melancholia
of existence.

Like a bat out of hell
You released my heart from its cage
From my ribs it flew free
Set off to love you in a rage
Went full speed ahead
You said, "Why not jump? Take a chance?"
I lunged, I plunged
And you disappeared in a flash
Became distant and cold
Like it never meant a thing
Put my shattered heart back
Cut off its wings
And now you're holding her hand
She's kissing your cheeks
She's sleeping in your arms
When I haven't slept in weeks