roses in the wintertime ✓

petals

you weren't like the rest of them.

perhaps i didn't know you
like i used to.
but i knew that much.

you didn't play with my hair
like they were guitar strings,
my god
you didn't even know how to strum.

you didn't stare at me
like i was the only thing
you ever wanted in your life,
no,
your dull eyes
looked at me like
i was the only thing you ever needed.

your words were never
just compliments,
just empty promises
and lies.

because compliments don't have the ability
to tend soil in my bones,
cause empty promises can't
water the seeds embedded in them
and lies
refuse to let the roses in me bloom.

you loved me like no man could.

and now i'm left
plucking off the petals
seeping from my skin.

kylie szenski