I keep my feelings for you on little leashes like rabid dogs
I dig a deep hole and scream them in hoping no one will hear
I splash them across the walls in carnelian paint and sit down breathless to observe them
Drip
Then lap them up with a sponge lest they ever hit the ground.
I keep my feelings for you in a dusty old jar at the back of the cupboard
But all my meals taste of you
I open my mouth in my sleep and they crawl out and mess about the room
But when I wake they are gone.
Just an echo of a flutter
of a blue wing catching the light
and then silence
I drive them into the desert and bury them under a eucalyptus tree
but when I open my bedroom door they greet me.
My feelings for you - they move under my chest while I read a book or sing a song.
They are like children that play.
They laugh at my jokes and harmonize with my whimpers.
I'd give them to you but they would be lost.
So I keep them - rumbling in my belly.
Murmuring and whispering to me.
Keeping me company.
For now.