Come to Hell.

“Well I looked my demons in the eyes, laid bare my chest.

Said, ‘Do your best, destroy me.’

See, I’ve been to hell and back so many times,

I must admit you kind of bore me.”

-Ray LaMontagne, Empty

I’m prone to crawling in circles when there’s company in my lair
Habits destroy intimacy.
So I let you stand on an incline and kick me while I’m down
Is it written in the palms of your hands to test me?
Never have I been this inspired to read between the lines.
You look nervous when you’re naked-
You give evil a pretty face.

I’ve loved you long enough to watch you lose your mind
under a velvet sky pinned with diamonds on a Sunday night
And you used to say it would take a nuclear bomb to split
the tethered atoms of our embrace
All it took was a decent divide of dead air to watch you walk away
without wanting to return.

I’m not impressed by how confused you’ve encouraged me to be;
I’ve been here before.
You walked me so far backwards into our potential,
it would take a fistful of tears to face the value of our time spent together
I’d rather you slap me just so I can understand
why I don’t miss the bits and pieces on the floor
I hate to watch you crumble but I’d like to see you try
Come down here with me, Hell could use the juice of you
I respond with laughter when I hear your name
I’m tickled by your scars
The loneliness lets me fall asleep at night
You’re a dirty taste in my mouth
that gets resolved the morning after with toothpaste and a reflected smile
I wish we shared a single tongue so that I could speak your language
and tell myself how sorry you must be
Perhaps there I’ll feel pain.

Britta B.