your heart is paper thin:
(beating,resting,slowing)
mingling within your bones

i can trace (carefully) your veins
feeling how (close) our bodies
connect with each other
i am underneath you (and your life)
and we take a breath
before

the


plunge
your hipbones are against
my palms
(your life feels like glass;
you are breaking,shattering,dying inside of me)
your head rests upon my neck
i know you've been surrendering
(to your body; your skin is cold; your heart still slows)

“wait—”

(you sigh)
inevitable imperfections resting
silently along your curves—in between us (separating us)
we count the words to pray
“this too shall pass”
but instead we cut away our lives (and the lies)

i mingle and you shudder—
you can't stand the pressure
of my fingers on your back.