Safety

I am waiting for you
like a hungry cat—
imagining the milk
of your skin,
how I could sink into that
& risk the world
by never coming back.

I am waiting for you
like a tattoo—
a promise of forever
on my feverish lips
as they rush along
the curvature of your
earth-shaped spine.

I am waiting for you
like an addiction—
like I could overdose
on your saintly words
& collapse myself
into the holes
behind your eyes.

I am waiting for you
like a train station—
holding my breath
to let out one long whistle
of the grief in longing
against the setting sun
like a flash of blood.

I am waiting for you
like a monster—
a madness locked
in the dark of an attic,
held captive by her own
elusive sense of self
& the truths of living.

& then you appear
& I am soft, once again,
like only you can
imagine me to be.
How I only am
inside your oaken arms.