fabric

we ripped along ragged seams

but we were tattered from the beginning

this tear was inevitable.

i press these words into my palms

enclose them with cold fingers,

(you used to make my hands warm.)

i pull my silver thimble from my pocket

i'm afraid of needles now.

you broke me so that i could spin

this heaviness on my chest

into pretty poetry-

new material.

thread through me,

stitch by clumsy stitch:

i was never as steady or

as stable as i should have been.

my eyelids sewn shut

seeing sutures

it is easier to meet you

blinded.

one more day like today

one more fight like this one, and

i will face my pinprick heart

and never turn inside out

again.