Dear death
How have you been?
It's been awhile
since I've felt your warmth envelope my skin
Sometimes I hear your whisper echo
between my sheets
Or let your poems whisk me off to sleep
Do you miss me?
The scent of smoke drifting from my clothes
Like a perfume that you loathe
But cherish when you're alone
And I can't say the same
Your grasp once swallowed me whole
but I'm okay
Now I'm okay

Dear death
I hear your knuckles graze my door
The winter months have reached their crux
I'm sure you long for warmth
But the corners of my conscious
suffer to let me know
That if you lay a minute in my bed
it'll be so hard to see you go
Did you love me?
I swear I never meant to do you wrong
You saw right through me all along
And even if your body felt like home
And your essence is in all
I am and all I know
Maybe I'm just better off alone

And how am I supposed to sleep at night?
Knowing that your ghost
is waiting for me on the other side?
And I will keep my head
above the surface until your rivers run dry
These brittle bones harness
the strength to fight

You may consume every piece of me
Just leave me be

And when you turn your back on me
And tell me I'll die alone
I feel everything you've taken
In the marrow of my bones

What if I never loved you?
What was I to say
If you sacrifice what is most dear to me
As a plea for me to stay?

And I'm sorry that it must end this way
But now I'm okay