Wendigo

There is nothing in the world so fragile as your heartbeat
There’s nothing so destructive as your whirlwind temper
You met me in mid-August like a zephyr, lulling
My sensibilities and sharp edges to sleep
And left my heart like the site of a hurricane
When you wound up, you tore to shreds my dignity
Shattered my bones, shot out
Razor-wire tendrils that wrapped around my veins
And lacerated, lacerated, my dear
And left me forever shaking
Like a lone leaf on a charred tree
You destroyed me, destroyed me
You killed me with your love
When the love was too much
For a merely human (and, after all, flawed) soul to bear
Your rage was so unbeautiful,
so unholy,
that it shook me to the deepest marrow of my bones and
I’ve been shaking ever since.
I’m still shaking.
You sank slowly into my bloodstream, like poison,
And brought your many incarnations out to haunt me
You flayed my pink skin,
My newborn vulnerable flesh,
Strung up my bones, and laid waste my heart.
You tore apart the bone cage that had kept it firmly contained,
Kept it from jumping out
And, shocked at being outside, dying.
You loved me with your blood, bones, and soul
And writ your decrees upon me in kisses of red
You buried me, my love,
You buried me.