You hurt me, you know,

when you smile at her with love in your eyes

and a song in your heart one second,

Then turn to me and give only an allusion to that

pretty upturn of your loved lips, with a downturn at the edges.

You mock me, you know,

when you speak sweet syllables in my tired ears

and I’m more content in that moment than I’ve been in weeks,

But then I realize that you’ve forgotten we share an English teacher

and I’ve just heard “your” words attributed to a long-dead Poet.

You kill me, you know,

When you yell, and scream, and make it my fault,

that you’ve forgotten our date, that you’ve lost your touch,

And I know I can’t yell back because

you are so much bigger than I dare to be.

You know this, you know,

and you know what you’re willing to do to me,

and you’re unwilling to let this perversion of love go.

But I know, I know

that I only need you in order to breathe!

Not to walk away.