i am holding myself together but
you chew right through my hands.
i am straight-laced and keep
the boning up my ribs and back,
you are bending and crushing me
under the weight of your skin.
i deserve to be loved like isolde,
precious and preserved by words
from a strong and righteous man.
i deserve that love, to be craved
like a dying man loves youth,
like a lost man in the desert
loves the mirage and yearns for
actual, full-bodied, wet water.
i am holding myself together but
you gnaw right down to the marrow.