if i could choose 

 

to crawl out of my skin

to shed what anchors me to my body

to cut the ropes keeping me grounded

with my bones like a cage

and my flesh like a bondage 

that traps me in this hungry frame

 

i would not 

float among the dying stars 

burning out their fiery history

and 

drink from the dippers 

tipping with milk that spots the sky 

and

dance with andromeda 

with her beauty that would color my face

 

i would not

sink beneath the oceans 

terrifying in flavors we don’t yet know

and 

braid seaweed into my hair 

like the sirens and mermaids of the deep

and 

pick diamonds

glittering among the rusted ruins of the titanic

 

i would not

ride the currents of the cold wind 

blowing like a call from the north

and 

haunt the plains of this broken world

with its cries like a symphonic thunder

and

be a ghost

who sings amidst the ruins 

 

if i could choose to crawl out of my skin 

​

i would 

climb inside of yours and

sit beneath your heart 

to feel the warmth of it beating 

and 

cushion myself between your lungs 

to remind myself that you’re breathing 

 

i would 

sleep in the folds of your temporal lobe 

to join you in your dreaming

and 

set fire in your blood 

when i know it’s of me that you’re thinking

 

if i could

i would choose

be closer to you 

than anyone has 

before