i'm scared i'll never be better than these love poems

i've got hollow bones and glass skin
so i know you can see just how much i ache
and pressed between that marrow rests
ink-dipped butterflies and sun-scorched jellies
and we know you can see how they struggle through every tide and hurricane
all for you.
i'm all cracks and fissures, baby,
all smoke-filled lungs and liquor-drowned liver
every depth of dark ocean and sky and mind
and i just need you to let me be your light;
i'll ready the soldiers apollo gave me, each sun in my smile ready to march on for you until
i have none left.
this isn't a burden, but a blessing.

i have a way of losing things:
time, minds, love.

my body is a road map
littered with the fingerprints of men who
find somewhere/(one) else to make home

tengo un corazón para dar,
promesas que he hecho a usted que tengo que mantener,
y una voluntad de siempre,
pero a ti no te importa,
y estoy cansado.

i'm pretty sure this is it;
every one of my dreams has you in it.

i teach them to love
for the women after me.

i'll travel to hell and back
if it means keeping a heaven astride you.

with ether and volcanic dust coating my lungs
i swear i'll always smile each time i cough.

love isn't "blind"
it's
flawed

if i got to wake up every morning
beside you.

other people are not home.

leafing through my pages you found your favorite song
dipped between the lines time and time again ‘til it feels all too familiar
repetition ‘til there’s no more thrill.
placed high on the shelf you’ll remember me as you walk past
a single glance, a pause
a world’s explosion in memories
painted your favorite colors and teased by the sunlight from cracked blinds.
my ledger is torn on accident, tattered by wear
you’ll trace your fingers along my spine as if to get reacquainted
remember the ink you spilled on that one page
a quiver of excitement that i’ll be read anew again.
another stain.
completed history.
a promise not forgotten.
i’ll collect dust here in wait
becoming background in a pile, decorative
lessons and laughter and all the best bits of me quoted by you
like i haven’t already given you everything else.

ship sailed round trip through my fingertips
brittle bones beige on paper too pristine for me
too touched, too unsteady
trampled into common ground
i’ll be fine.