you love me, i said
as confident as a mother bird
pushing the apple of her eye
out of the safest nest
and head first
into a thread of a cloud
i don’t, you said
but your divine smile—
it gave you away
i knew then if i fell
you’d fall with me
we did not need
the grace of angels
your feet were cold
and hell is toasty
the wind chimes in my room
have clanged their joy
since the coldest november night
you hung them
the day they fell silent
i had a fool’s thought—
they’re signalling my demise
but i couldn’t die
as long as you loved me
so i brought you the coffee
that would burn my tongue
on most dawns
as i watched the weeping sun
bleed into the clouds
that let her baby die
you looked at the cup
like it was brimming
with the purplest poison
you love me, i said
was i begging?
i needed the silence not to scream
quite so loud
i don’t, you said
your lips were a thin line
i would never touch them again
you shut the door
behind you when you left
but it made no sound
a trail of blood
from the knob to my heart—
i believed you this time.