i.
he smiles with cigarettes tucked between his teeth,
gestures for you to pick one, as if they’re poppies in fields of war. those things will kill you. you think.
as if it’ll stop you from putting it to your lips like it’s a cyanide kiss,
and as if it’ll stop him from lighting another, knowing that you’ll be just as desperate,
to die for him, to die with him.

ii.
he laughs with blood painted inside his mouth,
collides his lips into yours like a punch into a wall, smudging red on your jaw.thanks for the mark. you think as you lick it off his tongue. thanks for the brand, thanks for telling the world that I belong to you.
or is it the other way ‘round?

iii.
he kisses with hunger clawing inside his throat,
digging his fingers in the crooks of your spine, asking, asking,i never lie, you whisper into his ear,
so he sears his body into yours, forgets both your names in the half-darkness, crosses your heart with his teeth.hope to die, hope to die, hope to die.

iv.
he repents with the gallows hanging over his heart,
shoulders shaking in the blue florescence against the white sheets,
hanging his head low onto your red-purpled neck,I can be your absolution, I can be your divinity.
let me ruin you, let me ruin you.
he falls and kneels before your shaky feet, prayers into blasphemy, fingers into skin,I can be your graveyard.

v.
he falls with thorns tearing into his dark hair,
arms stretching outwards like a crucifixion, opens up his body and waits for the monster in darkness, in the light, all around.wake up. you shout at his crumbling silhouette,
pretending that your pale daydream could harm his miscreated nightmare,
centered on emptying out his concave chest.
but he’s hollow, hollow, hollow,
aren’t you going to fill him?