I stretch myself thin, flat on a canvas so you may easily perceive me
I polish and polish the painting, as if you were the commissioner
Erase all my depth, my warmth, my being
I am just a failed forgery of her design
I carry you with me
A vintage mirror distorted and yellowed
Each generation prior having given a dissatisfied twist
The brass straining my anxious wrist
My young vines reach for your great trunk,
But like razor blades your bark leaves me in shreds
Still I am drawn to you like the moon reflecting the sun
I forget—and see the floor is littered with broken
Your plumage providing shelter from the storms, I learn,
I can only bear from afar yet
I beat my paper wings against your dense canopy
They tear in the struggle but I know the taste of open skies.
One day I felt around and found a hardened spot,
just beneath my soft flesh, a rotten pearl I’ve made of you
An alien within me, I despereately preserved
I suppose I’m afraid of letting you go
When we’re forced together because our souls are forever entangled,
I harden and empty it of my precious
My Soul flinches in anticipation of you
I want to love you.