Patterns

memories follow such old patterns. I don’t remember what i had for dinner last night, but i remember sitting in my first- grade classroom, listening to my grey-haired teacher talk about flames.

“be careful”, she said, ” they look pretty when they flicker but they can easily become a fire.’

years have passed since then, but it’s a lesson that has never left me. it comes back in the form of a perfectly timed raindrop that rolls lazily down my spine just seconds before the sound of thunder.

years have passed and this pattern has somehow found its way to people too. my eyes drowsily trace around his fingertips and suddenly i am that same little girl sitting cross-legged on the classroom floor wondering.

will things always be most beautiful night before they destroy you?

I don’t want you to be me

I’ll always

belong 

to myself

even as many times

as I’ll try to give myself

away

and as many times

as someone else

will try and take it

I’ll always belong

to myself

and you’ll always

belong

to yourself

unions

are not formed

by giving yourself away

but by coming

together

two minds

two hearts

two flames

two contributors

two architects

building

their mad

or sadly sane

worlds

together

I don’t want to be

you

and I don’t want you

to be

me

the beauty

the love

comes from our

acceptance

of each others’

souls