you had puckish eyes under furrowed brows.

"i wish it was as simple as me leaning

over & kissing you," you whispered

a long time ago, when everything was complicated

& the simple act of kissing seemed so impossible then.

it was before i knew how to fight for myself,

so i couldn't fight for you.

when i relive the scene in my head,

the blue of the sofa is really vibrant,

& when i hear the words, they sound like

i'm hearing them from inside your mouth,

like i just crawled in & laid my spine out along your bottom teeth 

like a zip.