You began dusting your eyelids
with the edge of your thumb
and asked me
if your liner was smudged.
With that I knew
I would ruin you
if you let me.
I would become your biggest fan.
I’d cheer your name
until my voice carried even your smallest victories.
I’d hold so much empathy for your daily struggles
you’d be fooled into thinking
that in my heart
you are safe.
A blink is all it would take:
we’d be sharing an apartment
we’d be sharing a toothbrush
we’d rescue an old cattle dog
and each morning in bed
We’d make a rat-king with our legs.
I’d become a vine bound to your shoulder
in the kitchen when you should be feeding yourself.
I’d become a leech locked to your lips
before you remember
a mouth needs more than hot spit to survive.
By the time I wreck it all
and you finally breach for air
you’ll be too starved to stand
alone.
It will take years,
a whole life of struggle
before you can reclaim what I stole:
The friends I eclipsed,
the career I cast in shadow,
the soggy dreams tossed to the bottom of the kitchen bin
but remembering your awesome power,
you persist.
Each day rebuilding your former glory
until you’re ready to launch free
from the gravity of my implosion
But when you finally take the leap
to land back on your own two feet
you’ll be tripped
by the sound
of my voice
cheering.
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