Folie à Deux

madness, utter madness, reflected and refracted in your tidal gaze-

where was it conceived? my broken mind? or yours?

I search for the center of the ripples, where the stone went in, but I

can’t

find

it

your hands grip too tightly, too lightly,

I want more of you and none of you.

intoxicate me, repulse me, but

don’t

leave

me

two broken people can’t fix each other.

we thought maybe the shattered remnants of our hearts would be enough

to make one while, healed unit, stronger and more beautiful for the pain, like kintsugi, but

we

both

lied

and we both believed, fed and fanned the flames of each other’s delirium

clinging to the burning shipwreck named the life we built.

it never even made it out of the harbor before it started to sink, but on we waltzed,

dancing

to

death

hopeful and hopeless, more scared of loneliness than lying.

you held my head gently and firmly beneath the undulating waves

and I fed you poison, from my lips to your heart, and, like that, we stayed

frozen

by

choice.