Pretty words flow from unkempt mouths.

I long to breathe out that

I have seen what your lips do in the dark 

but I can do nothing except

breathe in secondhand smoke.

 

You call me darling 

and suddenly I am in your 

arms and I can only think

of affectations and whether 

or not my frame or hers fits more 

comfortably in your grasp.

 

I should not have fallen

in love with the wind

or boys who resemble it.

A gust may feel like

an embrace but it is always short-lived

and will leave barren trees

in its wake.

 

I have loved empty men

who howl as broken women pass by.

I have loved storm

shelters and I have loved hurricanes.

But you, you are the worst

by far. Your voice sounds like

home and your arms reiterate,

but your heart always has another

occupant in mind.