Like honey burning, like fiery-sweet pitch,
you cling to me —
bittersweetly.

And yet you eschew me
completely.

With your love, I have been
stained, imprinted, engraved –
blistered, scorched, and burnt –

stuck – injected and inked.

Rejected. But.

i cannot erase where                                                                                                                                               your tattoo has effaced

my own image of myself without you.

Without you I can no longer see

myself –

but only see you, never touching you, yet —

under my skin–

you sting, you burn, you beat out                                                                                                                                a counter-beat to my pulse –

your whisper is a murmur in my heart.