I’ve always seen you, clearly — a poem
Your body is nothing.
Even as I adore it,
Even as it warms
Cold toes
Under a sea of blankets.
It’s simply another layer,
That I move easily through
To find you, the real you.
Searching, finding, into.
Ephemeral being,
You’re a pillar of gold light.
Even as you drag new walls
Past to hide it and fight,
When you’re angry
And hurting
I’ll see you as a child,
Screaming, cursing
Willing me away from
The real you.
Taunting me
Hitting back with words
Like ice, slicing my own
Layered body.
As shards shed my
Cheeks from bones
On my face
I’ll not feel a thing.
Bloody tears whistling
In wild northwest winds.
Because all I need to do
Is hold up one hand
And you’re still.
A man again.
I’ll say one word,
Or maybe two
And your defences fall,
Even as you don’t want them to.
Crying blood as
I see
The real you.
A flayed, stunning,
Battered and beautiful
Creature of nothing,
And maker of everything.
I’ll let you slide fingers
Into the cavity
That was once my chest
And drag the creature
Made of light inside, out
Real you
Real me.