sub species aeternitatis

and if you show me the stars in your eyes, how much of my reflection would gleam in those galaxies? i drink the fruit under your eyelids and your fingers carve rhapsody in my scapular. one day i will blossom from the weight of your words and my heart will spill onto yours. i will grip tighter as we fall. the way rekindled meteorites flirt with fire, burn like absinthe before spiraling down to earth.

and if i sang siren in the waves, would you let me find forgiveness under the sea? kiss abalone shells to be satisfied with the beauty of absence? darling, we do not live for this world. we cup constellations in our hands and dip our toes in the surf, and still we long to press our palms into sollipse. and still we long.

and if you painted renaissance on my cheekbones, folded me like marzipan and told me we were meant to be together, would i feel whole again? or would i fly from this fantasy, water bleeding from a broken pot? run and run until i find someone to hold me back. someone who holds me like a listless lover. bend my legs like willow branches; i’ll squeeze to fill your cracks. catch your fingers in my hair until we are one. until i can only breathe through your lips. until i can only breathe you.

when you leave, shed my skin like a crescent moon.

don’t make the bed. if you love me, let me pretend we are still stuck in eternity.