a/n: written around 02/2010 for a boy who meant much more to me then than he should have

Just between you and me

I think I'd like a map

Tattooed across my shoulders

Like the unique palm prints of your hands

Imprinted on my heart.

I think I'd like a map because

On a map, the distance between us

Is only a couple of inches.

On a globe, I could see you from here

Peeking over my shoulders, across my back

Permanent like Atlas's weight of the world,

Beautiful as an old compass rose

Blooming in the empty space

Between here and there.

Just between you and me,

I think I'd like a map tattooed across my shoulders

To remind me that everything only feels so heavy

Because I am just Atlas

Carrying the weight of our world on my shoulders,

Stretched taught like canvas but rough like pavement,

Perpetually held not miles nor days but

Inches apart.