promises at the altar

I will love you

in the darkness and

all those doors

that close

and make you wait for answers

I will love you

if you choose to wait

and sit down

in front of those walls

like a small child,

hopeful and scared.

I will love you when you hate me

and I will hate that you love me

when I fail you,

when I hold secrets close to me

and fear their discovery

because I'm not supposed to fail, am I.

I promised you I'd find a way to sail

in a broken, sinking boat.

But I took you down with me

and oh, possession

isn't love is it,

and that terrifies me.

I will love you when all is lost,

and when all is sacrificed: our fragile insides

for each other, for our children

but at what cost?

Did we learn to tell each other the truth?

Or did we lose every single sharp tooth

that we used

to tear the world apart

to protect our own heart.