when we were children she grew her nails
long enough to pick at her full, scabby lips
and i thought "oh, if she'd only lick them,
they wouldn't be so red and swollen."

me, i remember all the smallest details
the time i was having a panic attack, attack
i made three u-turns before i sorted myself out
so i could get home to lie down with you

she wandered like a wraith in a cloud of dust
as my heart contorted in borrowed loneliness
and we all pretended our limbs were falling off
so i asked her to join in our robotic game

and i stayed later than i ever had before
in our universe of such a tiny room
i was absorbed into your cosmos
while you made wood and metal sing

we ran around and i pretended i was hers
in a story book we had made into a game
running around leaving pieces of ourselves on walls
and we found a little building to call our own

scales fell from my eyes when you kissed me
right on the back of my neck where it all closes
and i felt that i was truly in an uncharted nirvana
because no one so beautiful should love me