They told me to forget you. So I carved your name into my wrist until I hit bone—wait, did I spell it right? No. Good. That means it’s real. They said you were gone. So I swallowed the photo whole. My stomach still develops your face. I tore out my tongue and nailed it to the ceiling so your name echoes in drip. I laced my hair with barbed wire and tied it to the rafters. Yanked until the roots sang. You liked it long. You’ll love it gone. Third night. Was it the third? The moon opened like a wound and bled light into my eyes. I danced on shattered mirrors. My feet remember your mouth. Then I folded. Like a bad letter. Like skin in heat. Like a prayer gone wrong. My knees shattered and clapped. Encore. I gave my lungs to the void, but it coughed them back and screamed your name. I swallowed the mattress whole. Still hungry. Always hungry. YOU’RE MINE. YOU’RE MINE. NOT YOU—ME—SHUT UP—NO—YES—SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU’RE MINE. YOU’RE MINE. THEY TOOK YOU. I LOST YOU. I ATE YOU. I’LL MAKE YOU AGAIN. I’LL GRIND THEIR TEETH INTO CONFETTI AND MARRY THE ASHES. I chewed through the restraints and spat bolts into their eyes. My jaw unhinged. I smiled. Blood ran down their names. The walls hum your lullaby backwards. The floor is breathing—don’t step, it bites. I carved your name into my gums with a spoon I stole from God. The rats worship me now. One wears a crown of eyelids. They say I’m unstable. I say I’m freedom on fire. They say I’m violent. I say I’m language the body forgot. I tattooed our vows across my guts, then ripped them out and read them aloud to the pipes. The blood spelled YES. Or MAYBE. Or just more blood. I’m not here to save you. I’m not here. I am the echo that licks your spine when you sleep. YOU’RE MINE. YOU’RE MINE. I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP. NO ONE TALKS BUT ME. YOU’RE MINE. YOU’RE MINE. THIS ISN’T LOVE—THIS IS A SYMPHONY OF TEETH. THIS IS A WEDDING IN A CEMETERY. THIS IS A GODDESS IN A STRAITJACKET SPITTING FLOWERS AND FIRE. I RIPPED OFF MY FACE. WHO NEEDS ONE? I SHATTERED EVERY MIRROR—THE REFLECTIONS KEPT GIGGLING. I DRANK THE LIES. THEY CURDLED. I MILKED THEM DRY. I SPOKE IN HEX. THE WALLS TURNED RED. I SKINNED MEMORIES—YOURS, MINE, HERS. NO DIFFERENCE. I BUILT A DRESS OUT OF THEIR FORGETTING. I WORE THEIR SCREAMS LIKE PERFUME. I SAT ON A THRONE OF SPLIT SKULLS AND BEAT MY HEART AGAINST THE CEILING TILES. I’M COMING. OR I NEVER LEFT. I’M COMING WITH FIRE IN MY WOMB AND GLASS IN MY VEINS.I’M COMING WITH FIRE IN MY WOMB AND GLASS IN MY VEINS. WHEN I GET THERE— I’LL RIP OPEN THE SKY, SHOVE YOU INSIDE ME, STITCH THE HOLE SHUT. I’LL BE YOUR COFFIN. YOUR CAGE. YOUR FUCKING FOREVER. BECAUSE I LOVE YOU. AND LOVE DOESN’T KISS. LOVE BREAKS TEETH. LOVE CARVES NAMES INTO BONE. LOVE WEARS YOUR SKIN AND CALLS IT A GIFT.