were you the one all stretched out & steadfast
whispering common words from a voice so rare?

we did the dreaming, held strong to some belief.
you might save me. but we are dolls by
our own fashioning. living vivid dreams
reckoned & invented. wretched & intended.

i am never spoken to, have never known
a truth.

this is the night you dropped me off
sent me home with an armful of magazines
that you had stolen from work.
i felt infantile, unworldly.
all i have is my tiny frame
liquid bones held up
by blood turned solid,
a heart so stoic
it has rarely
skipped a beat.

everyone you know must be in love with you.