and more poetry

Sustain and Consume

When I’m with him I feel
like butterflies are melting
through my cracks.

When I was with you I felt
like needles were piercing
my veins with crack.

When I’m with him
even the vomit on my shoe
shines like the stars in the black.

When I was with you
I was so small
not even a shoe
could crush me.

When I’m with him I feel
like a dolphin breaking
through a cresting wave.

When I was with you I felt
like I was drowning
in a sea of crushing waves.

When I’m with him I feel
safe and warm
as if an eternal fire
burns through my blustery days.

When I was with you I felt
like a nesting doll
closed over,
claustrophobic and forgotten.

He is a diamond encrusted golden chalice.
You were a red solo cup, flimsy and cracked.

Too many times
I went thirsty because
you could not retain any liquid.

With him I will never be parched
and the liquid forms into ambrosia on my lips.

To describe my love
there has been two separate kinds,
one that cradles me near
and one that eats me alive.