did you call her your sunflower

and in the creases of her skin

spell out love

like a liability,

the hum of two bodies pressed together

not knowing the name of the other,

with a taste like the word please

and thank you?

did you make her a bath

and drown her,

all of her,

slick skin

and bruised hips

and wet hair

and broken heart

and pendulum eyes

her?

did you soak your soal

in vodka

and wash out the taste of her,

the colour she dyed your hands

and mind

and the woodwork of your bedroom,

the promises

that made you warm

on such a cold, stormy night?

when you set the room on fire,

tell me,

was it you

or your love

that burnt down first?

#poetry