Heal Me, I'll Heal you, and We Won't Mean Anything

It's a casual kind of necessity.

she came to him in a wounded way

and asked for a bit of skin

to cover up the holes and hold her heat in-

he obliged her, in a careless way

and gave her a place to spend the night

listened to her shiftings on the couch

and wished the gaps between the cushions

were not quite so large

such a small fragile thing-

it was possible to swallow her whole.

 

 

she came to him in her wounded way

and asked for a sliver of bone

to splint her broken ankles

told him she would never dance again-

he obliged, in his careless way

and carried her to his bedside.

wished the blankets were not so deep

and in his sleep-

 

he rolled over and broke her spine.

 

such a small fragile thing.

 

 

unlock your chest and keep me inside

she murmured-                   i will be safe there

so he allowed her, in his careless way,

to unlatch the bones of his ribs with thin fingers

and curl tightly into the space between his lungs.

 

 

he lived that way for a while-

with the shortness of breath

and the fragile tapping

of her heartbeat on his breastbone

 

he kept her safe there,
between the places where he breathed

and the places where his heart beat

and when he hurt, she would touch the

things inside him that ached

and, safe inside his chest, she did not hurt again.

 

 the added warmth was not enough-

he began to miss the feel of her skin

and the color of her tears

the holes in her heart

and the cracks in her bones

 

so he called her,                            in a wounded way

and felt the ringing echo in his ribs

in his lungs,                                   in his heart

and he heard her voice say

 

in a careless way-

 

"Thank you for calling,

I can't come to the phone right now, but leave a message

                      after the beep!"

so he closed his eyes

missed her hearbeat

and they both went to sleep.

Reviews

[Pixie Meat]

Holy crap. Just holy crap.
I don't doubt that this is one of the best poems I've ever read on this site...possibly anywhere. Indescribable.

[Aimee Mahathy]

Wow, this is just amazing!
I loved the repetition! Not only did it work well, the lines were simply brilliant! It added so much to the poem!
The story painted here is so strange, I couldn't help but love it entirely. And the end? That was genius!
Great job!

[Charles D. Moorer]

Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.