Speed

A shot of whiskey free flowing -
So much that you get bored,
That you don't feel the need to put in effort
Then you wonder why I left other men before.

A quick light in a fast night
Too fast that you feel the need to be alone,
That you don't feel the need to share a bed
Because vulnerability was never a part of life before.

Another shot, another light, our hands touch,
Fingers collide with skin,
Yours undo my bra clasp, getting further with every touch -
Boy, a woman's body is never yours,
Till you've truly touched her soul.

You can be either my hearth or a hotel room,
You do not learn the vagaries of my mind with distance,
You do not learn a person in space and in this space,
But if I might lose by being near, I'd rather be far.

I've tasted cities different from yours,
I'm sure, so have you, from mine,
Our ideas of love are so different,
Even when our bodies intertwine.

Drapetomania

I don't know what is more terrifying -
The look I see on your face,
A look I have learnt to distrust,
Or your actions which lead me to doubt
Every single person I've ever known,
And trust the people I have been.

I don't know what is more terrifying -
The ice I feel beneath the warmth of your skin,
Or that in spite of my aching cold
I try to make some warmth in me,
For you.
And yet still feel cold.

I don't know what is more terrifying -
To trust or to be trusted,
When all my stories are just stories,
Stories, I made to make life bearable.
And yours are real with the capacity to hurt,
Because your lies tend to look like my truth.

I wish I knew what to fear to tame,
From you, from this,
From the possibility of us,
That slow burn or this cold flame.