to make monsters out of girls

somewhere along the way, he forgot to mention the swarms of flies & wasps that would eventually come to cover everything we made together. the spoilage of all this misguided longing.

“that you had every reason to lock, bolt, & paint your door shut, but you still had enough space in that trusting heart of yours to leave it ajar & brave the cold air for me.”

airless,

upside-down

you’ll bleed yourself dry for me one question at a time—no passing. i’ll lick your wounds

slip from our fingers like a haze of barely-there smoke,

ache in the worst ways.

begin to miss meals

you

told me

i was as

vital

as

that

after-dinner

cigarette

you

could never

have just

one of.

they will

make you think

every person

you meet

is wearing

a mask

to hide

their fangs.

- & they will be wrong.

way flowers always—without fail—wither where they stand & slowly but surely return to the earth, particle by particle, back to the home they keep most of the year