Faith Gibbons: "when the bloom doesn't happen"

do not tell her that her ribcage
is bursting into flames,
she does not need reminded.
instead tell her that
her body is not a graveyard.
ensure her you will not hide the dead parts
of you inside of her, too
and let her cry without asking what
is wrong,
without trying to fix it.
you can't.
she has given birth to a heart that
is no longer beating and,
at this moment, she is still
in question as to
if it was hers.
 
tell me, did you hear what i said about me being afraid?
did you feel the nervousness inside of my body and
decide to try and make it easier on me?
do your "i love you's"
still sound like "i'm sorry?"
to love is easy,
to have is hard
to have
is not always promised
 
so instead i write poetry and
swallow it whole,
as if to still feel full.
as if to feel like we are still
coexisting in this.
and on nights where the emptiness feels
heavier than
the weight of empty space
it will spill out of my mouth, down
my body, to where
i last felt you.
i will read it back
---- like history page
      like bedtime story
      like obituary
 
until
all of me
is as undone
as you are.
         -    when the bloom doesn’t happen

Faith Gibbons is a 22yo poet & artist from Lakewood, NY. She has always had a deep interest and appreciation for art of all kinds, but poetry is what makes her heart beat the hardest. Her work can be found in Wild Violet Literary Magazine, and the Lavender Sisterhood. She is the founder and MC of a poetry group in her area, which allows people to express themselves freely & openly via performance art. She put out her first book of poetry, RAW: From Heart to Head, in April of 2017, which can be found on Amazon. Find Faith on Facebook and Tumblr, facebook.com/rhemapoetrygroup and d-apres-moi.tumblr.com. 

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