rainwater sadness

slides down your spine

cracking your bones and

driving you to madness

caressing every curve

of the fine carbon structures

in the way that you wish she could

qui est elle?

a figment of your imagination

stretch marked, curly haired

stitched together with the thread of

simple desire, purple and violet

gold on her teeth

you dream of love that isn’t violent

i’m dreaming of something celestial

standing knee deep in the freezing ocean

pull the gauze away from my eyes

it feels like a blessedly starry night

like milk dripping off my bones

pouring into the galaxy

deism is a heretic’s game

but you never believed in god anyway

call me atlas

the sun melts down my back in the daytime

and i am cooled by night

her obsidian embrace

moonlight illuminates the smile on your face

it turns your eyes soft

you never loved me more than when

i pulled away from your pearly fingertips

tell me

when did love become heaving sighs

when did beauty become billowing clouds

silky golden hair that catches sunlight

stores it away like you and your moths

the wing-beating cries distance you from me

i’m not in heaven

but i fear i may be close

you, who would not know

empty eyes from drowning heart,

bore witness to

my aching clavicle,

my bruised chin,

my empty skull.

my hollow-boned body

still shudders subtly

remembering your butterfly kisses,

butterfly knife wishes.

i thought girls were supposed to be gentle.