Clipped

All I ever wanted was someone who would never leave me. 

And there you are, again, polishing criticisms like daily koans,

like chestnuts on your sleeves. A gleaming eye wrapped in a shell.

There you are, blowing dust in my face, reminding me everything is shit. 

You are the inky layer of fascia dragging me to a crawl,

to supplication for matter made of light.

No one will ever stay with me the way you do.  You

and your sharp-edged truths I can’t seem to differentiate from lies.

You are loudest in silence, when the television is off and the meetings over,

and then all I want is to be left alone.  And there you are

offering me a final way out.