Snake

How do I withdraw the venom
seeping in sordid silence
that courses in virgin veins
and makes every breath
a searing, tender pain?

I saw your smile in a mirror--
Now you love another reflection.
How do I pick up the bloodied pieces
of years of dodging and deception?

To love quietly is to be sorely bitten
to love alone is to be smite and smitten
feeling the silken pleasure of poison--
falling from too noxious a vertigo
once you've discovered
where the heart has to go

Scream, expand
expend
until the seams of teared tears
begin to rend

I loved you, I love you
dear, so beautiful,
friend.