Bitten

I was once smitten
                            with young                                  
love                                                         {infatuation}
so done with my "childish ways,"                                          
                             thought I could                                      
dove-tail                                                   {swan-dive}
                              into my own
pulse                                                         {demise}.


I will weep in veins of scarlet ink
and parchment paper skin,
but the tears I've shed for you
in the past                                             {even now}
are like dust                                          {and ashes}

because in the morning of our meeting,
there was only beginnings....                  {, but I'm always left with the endings.}


Once bitten.                                           {You smile, I smile.}
Twice cautious.                                      {Too close, too far.}
Thrice warned.                                       {The sin is in the secret.}


Suck out the poison.                              {I thought you were the cure.}


So long...                                               {For longing hurts too much.}