Perhaps It's Love

He whispered in her ears,
a sweet and salty mix of
frowns and shudders; but she just
cried, and as her tears
flooded the shallow earth beneath
he let go of her hand,
let go of her heart.

She reached for his grasp as
she sank, begging with eyes so
blue and so scared. To the point
of explosion they
widened, until she shut them
and pulled her arm
to her side.
She felt her ribs, tried to tear them out,
tried to tear out her soul and
her mind but they stuck,
firm and unbending.

She swore, biting her lip and
running her tongue over
her teeth like she'd done
many times before,
tasted her words and
her blood and
tasted him, swallowed it all
to keep safe in the
pocket of her lungs.

The air hung too heavy
as she breathed in each
guilty breath,
and it crowded her thin frame and
beat down her thin heart;
relentless as he is
and stronger too, it pounded,
bringing her further
underwater.
She fell.
He didn't notice.

As she swam fervently
for the surface,
he planted thoughts into her head,
thoughts that crippled her legs
and her spirit as she
ripped at her hair and
screamed at herself.

She broke through the water and
yet still reached for him,
he pulled her up and
smiled as she coughed and
spit at him,
lunged at his throat and
tried to break away
his arrogant manner.

He calmed her and stroked
her dripping blonde hair, held her
as she screeched and
hit the walls with
manicured hands.
She accepted the comfort and
accepted his touch,
lonely at best she
cried for him. He wiped the
bitter tears from her
panicked face as her
breathing slowed into a regular rhythm,
matched with his, like always.

He walked her home
and she slept,
dreamed and
twisted the day's events until
he saved her from herself and
from him too, repeated her
new story until she forgot
the truth.
That's more like it,
she thought.