i couldn’t be more in love

my fingers ache to cradle your hair once more

and winter your body with my fears,

a cold claw at your throat, love, i long

to etch my disparaging words into your neck

like the time i smothered you with tattoos and flowers

and kisses on your head,

to hold you and sculpt your sorrows,

to fall asleep and in love

upon the hollow of your chest, and smile in my sleep

because you are mine. whole and true.

and it aches to have you sheared off my skin like this,

it aches to see you cry,

a bleating brevity that i know

time will heal and seal. soon, you will

rust away and my lungs will forgive

everything that has been inflicted upon it.

but for now you dawdle and digress,

and i keep writing these poems in the dark.