She apologized for
the embers he left
in her mind

and for every singed lock of hair
She dropped to her knees
and begged for forgiveness

She said sorry
for protecting the tatters
of her heart

For the shaking earthquake
her hands had become
and for wrapping her arms
tightly around her torso

She regretted trying to hold
her crumbling frame together
When he was not finished with her yet

pretty
hurts
but
love
hurts
more

i forgot your birthday
it was in may and i was only reminded
today when i was looking through my pictures
and so the one that we took last year,
i laughed at first because i looked ridiculous;
my hands were awkward at my side and my hair
was a disaster because of the wind but that
didn't matter because you held me tight anyway and
i cannot help but be brought back into the moment-
your hands intertwined in mine and my head leaning on
your shoulder and i remember being so excited to
watch this movie although at the end i can't even tell you
what happened because i was too busy looking at you
and you noticed because you would roll your eyes
and tell me to stop starting at you, but i couldn't
and i can't now, i can't stop staring at you in this motionless
picture, i can't stop thinking about how happy and naive
and ignorant we were i can't stop obsessing over
that dimple in your left cheek i can't stop loving you
and even though i forgot your birthday i think i cried
more today than i ever have because my worst fear
is coming true, i am slowly forgetting you and
soon you will just become another story i tell to my friends
mindlessly to waste time, i will never again have the chance
to stare at you in a poorly lit move theater and i
will never again be afraid of being caught,
what we have is completely over and i know that there is
no hope for me to hang on to anymore because i didn't call
you on your birthday and you didn't call me today, on mine
(h.l.)

we are covered
in scars
from internal
fistfights
that bled through
to the outside