Work Text:
you were always a mask, my prince
delicate sugar shell
candy gloss
tooth rotting coating
broken over the thorax
taped up repeatedly with dissolvable stitches
became part of your chemical makeup
---
rub knuckleboned fists
over isopropanol glazed eyes
pools of hydrocarbons
settling under your skin
you suited those bruising shadows
didn't mean they weren't ugly as sin
---
i'mfinei'mfinei'mjusttiredjustsleepyjusthungryjust
dredge worn excuses,
bile-soaked
through your aching ribs
scrape them down vocal cords
horsehair on catgut
imbue them with enough intrinsicality
you even fool me
---
my own ungrateful
metronome heart
shuddering coward's lungs
if you could take them all, my friend
if you could have taken every last breath
my diaphragm sought to push in and out
you could have them
even if you didn't want them