i arise and shake the dreams from the fragile casing that is my body.
there are so many words dancing behind my teeth,
ready to fall off my lips and into your hands but i cannot bring myself
to blanket you with my messy reveries and hopeless fairytales,
to make you feel as indisposed as i once was.

i use every last unkept promise and unspoken word
as a viperish cocktail that will bring me to life once again
and take me to the rickety fence that stood where you were before.
it is there that i will exchange this misery that i seem to have fallen in love with
for tattered answers that will allow numb fingers to race up and down
along the icicle nerves beneath my tender, pale skin.