There Are Some People You Have To Love From Afar

There are some people you have to love from afar
because you’d melt yourself down
just to be dripped into the crevices of their body
because you’d tilt the world off balance
just to touch them
because it’s like their mouth is an apple and
you just have to taste.

There are some people you have to love from afar
because with them, there is no
falling out of love, there’s just
replacing. replacing replacing.
(I found someone else to pass the nights
they’re beautiful, they have your smile)

There are some people you have to love from afar
because they will take you
and they will break you
and they will you use the same mouths
that traced the insolent curve of your neck
to tell you to leave, to get out, that
they don’t need you

There are some people you have to love from afar
because for them; you’ll settle for a hard set mouth,
the narrowing of eyes and the likened movement
of limbs going taut, a body giving out
a reaction, any reaction because
you need them like air and you’ll
clutch at anything, at everything, at hate even,
if that’s all they’re willing to give

There are some people you have to love from afar
because loving them is like losing
some part of yourself and while it’s easy to pull
apart the melted flesh of two
and extricate tangled limbs
its harder to figure out what parts
of your internal monologue was yours
to begin with and not theirs

There are some people you have to love from afar
because they will teach you to see them
in all the places you used to love
they will make you wish that your
ears never learnt the sound of their voice
and they’ll haunt you 4 years from now
because they kissed you until your body
went languid under the heat of it
until you pooled into nothing but
cigarette ash and the bitter regret.