The first time we locked lips 
Our faces grew close, slowly, like in a dream 
Eyelids dropped; everything dimmed 
A spotlight illuminated the scene 
Right before we switched lungs 
I peeked at your hankering 
Your mouth opened in anticipation 
My watch stopped ticking 
You lowered your voice and half-raised eyelids 
You wanted me more than I did 
“This is the most intimate moment of my existence,” I realized 
As your tongue traced my lip 
“I can’t wait till next time,” you whispered –  
 
I wake at night 
Yet another dream 
A fairy-tale-turned-reality-turned-nightmare  
The final act of your film 
 
In act one, you weren’t in my aim 
You chased me while I was hunting an old flame 
Then I bumped into your sword 
And fell before you noticed me in the horde 
 
Your ambush changed the game 
I laid limp in your arms, dreading blame 
“Come closer,” you said, and gave me the Mark of Cain 
Was that the moment you decided, “he will never see me again”?  
 
The night I almost said “I’m in love with you” 
I thought I’d have another chance 
“Throw me a bone before you break my skeleton” 
I cried, tracing your footprints in the sand 
 
Why did you make the first step 
Of a tango you didn’t want to dance? 
A quiet player never reveals their cards 
I should’ve known you’d never dismiss your guards 
 
The silence after your storm 
In act two, the battlefield has lost its swarm 
“You think I can’t handle the truth?” I roar 
At tombstones and beds no longer warm 
Lust slowed down our one-on-one 
Now, time flies 
Wars rage without a taunt from you 
In the blink of an eye, I will die 
 
Forget-me-nots wither. Seals hibernate 
Gusts of grudge freeze graves 
I rise above the ground; my gashes dry 
Winter congeals the blood that you shed 
“Give me a season before a lifetime alone” 
I yell, but no voice comes out 
Then it hits me 
“I am in the land of the undead” 
 
It is quiet here. And barren 
Ghosts roam cemeteries, searching for the weapons that killed them 
They scream into a void 
No one licks their wounds 
I never scratched your cheek 
You tossed your axe and fled into the woods 
 
You sucked the colour out of my world, and blamed the vacuum 
I begged for scraps of your leftovers 
Your “Yes” still echoes in my backroom 
I waste my best words on your biography 
Your name’s still buried in my wallet 
No one sees when you cry at an onsen 
 
If you knew, you would groan 
“Aren’t you happy floating on your own?” 
But the image of me is none of your concern 
None of your cheer, none of your pain 
 
My social battery is low and it’s getting dark  
The clock strikes twelve 
Wolves bark 
“Why did I fall in love with a stranger?” 
Stars blinded me to the danger 
My cemetery drifts away from your retreat 
Into an ocean with pitch-black sleet 
 
Act three sees me stranded 
On an iceberg with gaunt seals 
My guts blush the ice 
My head drops to my heels 
Ghosts swing axes and form cracks 
The iceberg collides with a continent and begins to disappear 
A snowstorm brought us together 
But the desert is my place of origin 
My frostbites boil into burns 
“Did I ever hurt you?” I ask 
“Am I a fiend?” 
 
I wait for a hunter that is well-fed 
An over-imaginative kid stuck on reverse 
“I like you, I like you,” my head replays 
I wish I could forget 
The lies of our duet 
 
You set my torch ablaze 
Yet I will never be more than an ash in your fireplace 
I’ll grin and bear it like a good cub 
Who knows their elder has chickened out 
Your axe is too rusty for digging 
My night is too long in this climate 
Bereaved families 
Daily murders 
Realization dawns 
My blood curdles 
 
“I am starting to hate you a little”