Soar

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.