my head has scratched poems
carved into my skin
about a boy
with pale blue eyes
and paler hair
with a laugh that sticks into my skin
like shards of broken glass

you and i
we are made of molecules
traceable to the pristine gases
that exploded into the galaxy.
we are made of the same dust
and their chemically rich guts

and this somehow makes me
feel better knowing that the galaxies
beneath my skin are connected to yours
and that i am a part of you
and you are connected to me
even in just a single way

the first time i heard you spoke

i felt flowers grow inside me

upside down, from my heart

to my throat and my mouth.

i smile daisies and tulips

irises and orchids whenever i hear your voice

as deep as the ocean, wishing for my name

to swim in it, just once, and maybe even twice