performed an a cappella and no one stayed
i smiled in the shower
because i thought he might finally get it
that the body i once flinched from
could be holy when it’s mine again
i turned the camera just right,
gave him the angles, the curve, the joke,
like i wasn’t breaking underneath the faucet
but the water ran cold,
and so did he
and when the mirror asked if i still wanted to live, i didn’t have the breath to answer
i called myself a waterfall
i meant: watch how far i fall,
and how much of me i lose on the way down
i told him about the war in my head
and he tried to win it
and when it got too much,
when the world collapsed in my gut,
i still said i’m sorry
like bleeding on him
was worse than the wound itself