My days seemed to come in pairs
they were so long they felt like separate entities
I couldn't feel their wear
so I didn't know to search for remedies

We ate canned food off crystal plates
and that fine china must have weighed more
than the burdens locked in our fates

I remember peeling the gray from around your eyes
like a second skin and it was time to fall off
but still hanging by a thread
crispy and cracked

and I could feel the miles in our bed
even when every way I reached
my fingertips always seemed to find you

I was only happy when I was far away
and only comfortable to come home
So I slept on the side you always lay
and I pushed you away and I wanted you to stay

Wanting to
learn the jungle from the mattress,
I set it outside, surrounded,
by a mosquito net
pitched unto two
palm trees, in winter to
avoid coconuts falling by the southern terrace;
you should've joined me
In February, I can tell you
I never slept for carnaval.

I never learned to care
Until I hurt you
I never learned to dream
Until I slept next to you
I never learned to desire
Until your lips met mine
And the sad part about it all
Is that you never learned
To hate
Until you met me.

F.Z.N