Toxic

seeing him come and go
with the beautiful way he hurts you so

Exposed

Don’t look at me, please.

the pain you carry
from before you knew
where pain comes from
before you even remembered

Panic is passed down
over tables piled with fish.
They never knew how to be
another way.

in the drought she waters
in the cold she warms
she is soft like spring sun
she if life, tucked away compact

the will to walk away
because every time is practice
leaving behind
what no longer serves me

I counted the bricks
of the stone building’s facade
waiting for you to love me

Silence so pure and broken
with the soft ring of harbor bells
wind whistling through pines
hum of the breathless sea

for everything I’ve lost and found again
everything I lost and learned to live without

if you’re going to love me
you need to understand
that I love me,
and I love me too much
to watch myself suffer.