the pain of an unbroken heart

you've always been a cocoon to me

and I know it's foolish

to wrap one's self up in

another with broken wings

but the way your feathers felt

all around me

wasn't something I could sacrifice

for safety

how could I have known

your barbed wire underbelly

would swallow me whole

with angry words and broken promises

how could I have known

butterflies don't emerge

from the talons of a sparrow

no matter how soft

the killer sings