I’ve been living in the atrium of somebody’s heart // there are seats here // like at the movies // my face glows from the screenlight like a thousand phones to the sky // at sunset // there are cobwebs here // rust // mothdust // insects that tick time forward in the wet dark // butterflies, butterflies // like a middle school crush // I’ve been here for a long time // the lost months smell like earth and // I’ve been hiding from the landlord // I’ve even started a garden // new trees like candlelight along the spine // leaves that will open green and starry like // dragonwings // and blossoms so stubbornly coloured that they burn red even in // the bodied dark // sometimes the room is wounded // with light // knives of white like // stars // pinning our wrists to the sky // and the voices come to me low and boomy like // an ear to somebody’s chest or // cello music // or mildewed eyes // at a nightclub // and there are chalices of liquor // ruby-coloured // like pain // and the glass from the ceiling weeps // like glitter // oh // my chapel // oh // my love dove // tell me that I am an orchid held between two hands // like a prayer // tell me that the cigarettes light us up from the inside // like lanterns // baby // tell me that the champagne will be clear and silverbeaded // tell me that the stories will be tensionless // tell me that the atlassed skies will fall into the sea in deafening applause // tell me that the libraries will be empty pillars of joy // tell me that those kids will always be running aflight up twenty flights of stairs and // their swollen lungs will always be wings too large in their warm bodies and // they will always be there on the roof with their fat black hearts // killing time // high enough for gravity to kill // baby // I’ve been here for too long // the lost moths smell like earth and // their bodies are furred // on the doorstep // of my old flat // baby // I’ve always been here // for too long // I’ve been hiding from the landlord // I’ve even started a garden // baby // let’s be ordinary people // together // baby // tell me to stay // stay // stay