L E E C H

you fasten to me—

not with TEETH,

not with BLOOD,

but with N E E D.

you stay

longer than silence,

heavier than memory,

softer than loneliness.

you attach

where skin is thinnest,

where blood runs easiest,

where tenderness cannot fight back.

you feed quietly

not all at once,

not violent

but S L O W,

& S T E A D Y

& E N D L E S S.

do you know?

some leeches NEVER stop until their host collapses.

and still—

i let YOU stay.

you anesthetize me with sweetness,

numb me with promises,

so i don’t notice

how much of ME is already GONE.

danger wears your mouth,

but devotion wears your eyes.

and i can’t tell

which part i am in L O V E with.

you are my W O U N D

& my C U R E,

my P O I S O N

& my P R O O F

that i was alive enough to be drained.

bitter / sweet

burden / gift

wound / bandage

the one i never asked FOR

& cannot let GO.