Princess Petunia
Location
I can tell when you lie,
which you very rarely do,
because your eyes go wide as marbles
and your eyebrow go up nearly to your hair
but sometimes they don’t
and even then I can tell
when you’re telling me how wasted you got,
or how much you don’t like him.
I can tell when you’re thinking
your mouth goes quiet
and curves up the occasional quick absentminded smile
and you nod at flickering sounds
in an effort to look interested
You should know that our conversations
scare the hell out of me
because of how filterless I am
with you
I know that you try hard to love your mother
slaving for love
all your life
I know that pain makes you smile
and you act more high when you’re sober
I know that you’re most honest at two in the morning
and you aren’t so much the pathological liar
you believe to be
and I know
you do not give enough credit
to the beautiful person
sewn in your skin
dear princess,
we’ve had every conversation in the world
and we never run out of things to talk about
Our love isn’t a river or rainbow or meadow
Nothing that can be drained or dissipated or destroyed
Our love is a cockroach
hard and unyielding and stubborn and able to survive an apocalypse.