To love you is to burn:
a wildfire moving boldly,
desperately,
searing through my raw heart.

To love you is to drown:
my lungs opening
and collapsing,
flooded by your restless current.

Loving you and losing you
are two pains that bleed as one.

I do not
ever
cross your mind.

You occupy
every nerve
in mine.

i told myself
not to fall in love,
never to fall
in love.

but then you cupped
my hands,
my freezing hands,
against you,
and breathed warm air
into them.

you brushed
my hair out of my
eyes and looked into
them like you were
looking for pieces
of my shattered soul.

your thumbs traced
over my lip lines
and yours curled
into a smile.

you kept me warm
with just your arms,
and your lips
pressed against
my cheek.

and for a moment,
we were one,
and i let myself
fall.

and in the morning,
you were gone,
and i was reminded
of why i couldn’t let
myself fall
in the first place.