I try not to see the hope in your brown eyes,
The hope that threatens to drag me in,
Because where hope once was, distrust now lies,
While spiders of self-hate crawl across my skin.
I’ve lost strands of myself to so many
That the blanket I once had has been reduced to thread.
So what I want from you, I will deny
And your leaving I will dread.

But, selfishly, when you call me ‘Love’, I’ll smile
And, stupidly, let your lip-ring brush my lips.
I’ll even try to love you for awhile,
And fight off the threat of our eclipse.
I’ll walk on the icy pond of loving you,
But Baby, I’m not strong enough to fall through.