i swallowed it, like a bitter pill leaving an aftertaste. residing in the nooks and crannies of my mouth, / my soul. not once, not twice; each time the universe had me in shackles, and i evolved into its roots. don't fight, my child — i shan't / i will do it ( again ).

they speak of hurt as the sworn enemy of humankind. have you ever tasted the void? has it licked at your wounds, in hushed promise of tranquillity; knocking at the door, like a confidante that made themselves known by a static pattern. stay, / so it does.

i should have known of those obsydian eyes, my instincts failed me. maybe not, perhaps they were right. i took a step back, you took two forward. tango. devil's incarnate in the stretch of tiers uttering my name. i took a step forward, i took two.

the breeze of july and a quarter of a moon reflected in the smoke, passing through. it's a lonesome passenger connecting the bridge between me, myself; the universe. "you know," as i narrate the monologue unknown to mankind. "you know of this heart," / you know.

for all my days, the filth is to draw a veil over the scattered books, as i sort through you. re-reading each and every page with newfound repentance, and i comprehend— you wrote ( yourself ) for me. the story i live through your eyes, your grace. curse ( love ) me.

leave a dent of your size and shape across the splattered canvas, / you'll call it art, while i name it humane.

like a pattern skimmed across the spine, seen by the eyes of the creator. etched with a lack of promises, but the acts itself. it's the curve of a mouth with its imperfections and damp scrape of one's teeth. and you let it consume you; vile is the partiality for love.

call me by my full name to abandon how it reverberated before the timbre of your voice resonated with cascading letters, sipping on the comfort of what's been of me, of what you have rechristened; a karmic connection of lifetimes captured under one's breath.