Rabid Dogs

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.