unwilling to fade away with you,
if this is how we’ll scream,
pull the air from my lungs.
I’d rather just be left alone
in the enveloping dark
to no longer carry the flame,
the torch that could once ignite
entire valleys and mountains,
snuffed out the moment I could sense you
Pulling away one fragment at a time,
first noting the distance,
the hesitation in your voice.
I can feel the tiny vibrations
when your head rests
on my chest and you speak,
the gradual subtle changes lacing familiar chords,
the welling tears in your eyes becoming lonely
ripples in beautiful mysterious oceans,
the fleeing warmth of your body
beneath the blankets leaving me as a still glacier.
And there are times I almost
want a lie to consume me,
to draw blood from each stone.
But fiction is even more dangerous
than learning how to let go,
unwilling to place these coins over my eyes,
if this is how we’ll drift,
pull your hands away from my face now.
I’d rather just forget what inexplicable
pull brings me to you and be left
in the steadfast dark to no longer sway
with the dancing flames,
the torch that could once evaporate
entire frozen lakes and rivers
snuffed out the moment I could sense
You’re intoxicated with another bloom,
one petal at a time,
first noticing the shivering,
the withdrawal from my touch.
I can feel the pockets of heat closing off
between us when we share a bed,
the crushing subtle changes in the chords,
the way close bodies can become lonely
glaciers drifting in beautiful mysterious oceans
slowly fleeing and finally letting go.
