Poison

No words could wound me, no strike
bruise me and no knife
bleed me the way your eyes do

when they fix
upon Her.
The mere mention of her name

transports you to a place I can’t reach you.
Eyes glaze over; you are dead to me.
Nothing left, I promise myself

I’ll let you go. I promise you
I’ll let you go. I promise the world
I’ll go on, go away and next week

I’ll be back, begging.
Her name is poison and you feed it to me
and I slurp it greedily knowing

death is mercy. From within it eats at me,
growing large in small ways,
growing large in empty yet cramped spaces.