Skins Poem by Amberlee Carter

i raked my nail across your roof,
split the forbidden fruit
from within-
then your sky divided,
and you began to rain,
and i began to drown
in a pool i can only say was heaven to soak and die for.

you said: love is worth it
and love is never cool,
love is knowing from across the room-
love is stepping away from this door
knowing that in 8 hours this will still be home-

the prodigal lover, perhaps,
in part the years have passed and we are grown,
but still loving as though we are young

you seemed inspired when i spoke of the fire
and the indifference between waking and dreaming-

when the rain makes wispy shadows of night
i sleep outside my life,
altered from who i am inside,
animated into skin i can be comfortable in

i pressed my fingertip to your spout,
you said: love is never going without,
and now i imagine you
with this childlike truth-
though is it enough to say forever
and mean those words without some betrayal?
for you're asking me to love with all that i am,
and i am telling you,

you are