for the tarnished hearts

cradled

prompt: "hold me until i wake"

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cradle my heart

in your arms

of whispered promises

and sweet lavender

(left on my nightstand),

rock it to sleep

as its steel panels

fall away

with every word

you let shine

in your amber eyes,

those pools of wonder

i find myself

drowning in,

lungs flooded with gold.

hold me until i wake

from this dream,

this pastel landscape

of forever

you've painted me in.

i gulp in the air of nightmares

when i emerge from the 

thick molasses of your illusions,

and i awake to reality

prying at my eyelids.

from your soft fingertips

come claws

that dig into the softness

i've revealed to you,

that scratch your initials

into the metal

latching back

onto my heart,

and your eyes flash

before my world goes dark,

and i'm asleep

once again,

floating in an abyss

of honey

streaked with the soot

from our fire

burned out.

i can hear you,

somewhere distant,

but i refuse

to open my eyes

and break my bones

on the pools of amber

that have long since

frozen over.

i've been living

in your warm seasons,

cinnamon on my tongue

and knit blankets

draped around our

fused shoulders,

contentment

settling over us

like sunset leaves

over barren ground.

i didn't see your winter

waltz in,

snowflakes twirling into

ashes

to rest on the rosy tip

of your nose,

flushed lips

curling into the cold ghost

of the smile

i once loved.

my frostbitten fingertips

won't wait for bitter spring

to brush against yours

and feel some semblance

of warmth.

i won't wait

because a corpse

would wait forever,

and i am still alive

despite how deep

i'm buried.

i sink further

into the honeyed void

you made

just for me

and my shivering heart

of steel.

encase me in cold amber, 

darling,

immortalize what you

have done.

love,

mari