Crowns of Roses and Steps of Lilies
Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?
Not a graceful fall, like a rock skipped across the currents of a stream, but a plunge that ripped apart the seams of the sky
Did it hurt when you lifted your wings?
Feathers dark as night so unlike the once pearly white, yet still so beautiful
Bruised elbows and bleeding wrists, each wound like a stab to the heart from those who still sit upon their pedestals
And maybe I could not catch you, I could not protect the shattering collision that deepened the cracks there from the mold
Maybe I cannot put an end to the ache, bitter poison replacing the blood in your veins
But I can still take the plummet with you
I can wipe the tears that fall just as you did, like golden drops of paradise
Because in you I still see a sliver of heaven, and for you I would take that fall over and over and over again if it means that you wouldn't have to
And the gates of hell will welcome that which God didn't want, for the lord of creation is blind towards beauty that he didn't create, and envious of it
You may believe that your purpose is destruction, but flowers grow in your wake, springing lilies from where your crimson blood dampens the ground hardened by the sinners
Maybe we're sinners too, but oh is it worth it to love you, worth every drop of affection I receive
Because within you is an ocean of pain, a surf of grief, but a river of empathy
You light yourself on fire to warm others, but please let me strike the match instead
Let me return to you what is yours, return the warmth that those who don't deserve it have taken
With your skin of marble and heart of glass, let me protect it from all that seeps inside
Take up your sword and your crown, your crown of roses and broken thorns bleeding crimson, but let me be the guardian of your heart
Sit on your throne of jewels and hope, and I will gladly take up the armrest
Your scars are like constellations, and I'd trace them forever if I could, but your smile shines brighter than the ones that light up the sky
If only that smile was forever, if only I could see your joy every day, so strong that I could reach out and touch it
You had gotten good at your game long ago, holding your deck close to your chest
But now you're playing a game you don't understand
How do you learn to show your cards and not keep them a secret? How do you learn to trust the other players with your hand?
The rulebook's words could mean everything to one and nothing to another, undecipherable yet eye-opening
If I must I'll read each line aloud to you, translate the languages unknown
A lighthouse, if you will, the brightest star, a guiding hand
Let me slip my fingers between seal, trust me to hold your secrets, they are safe with me
Let me shift the veil from your eyes, distorting the good from the evil
I don't know where I lie, on the blurred line between sinner and saint, but as long as you look upon me with those shining eyes I'll follow you even to the deepest pits of this hell
When words feel like bullets, no matter the intention, I'll sit with you in silence, I'll take your hand
Because even in the quiet, one look will tell me everything I need to know, even in the quiet I could spend eternity with you and never once wish time would move faster
As long as your hand is in mine and your bruises are cared for and you're safe in my arms
Escape into our paracosm with me, where the worries melt away
Where we can eat the fruit of knowledge without a care in the world, knowing that we are unrestrained by the idea of good and righteousness, freer than God himself
Even Lucifer will be jealous of our boldness, watching us from his dais of pride
We can spread our minds across the walls like modern art, strange and uneasy
Unsensible, they say, our splashes of reds and blues and blacks, depictions of our dreams and thoughts and fears
Maybe we cannot make any sense of it either, but only we can see the unsettling beauty of discarded belief and lies
I'll be your safeguard, I'll be your only, as long as you trust me to catch you as you slip
I won't let you fall over the edge, not again, this time I'm here
Now is not forever, soon the past will come and take it as quickly as it was there, and I will gladly replace it
I will continue fighting this war for you, until I can proudly fall into your arms claiming victory
If I could I'd take a step into your mind, no matter how twisted you claim it to be, and gather the river of hurt like a pond in my hands for myself
I'll carry this burden with you, take up the pain on my shoulders, together we can be Atlas and hold up our world
It's as if we're on either side of a ledge as thin as a hair, abyss far, far beneath where despair stings throats sharper than liquor, and the only thing keeping us balanced is each other's weight pulling us in
But just remember, like a story, this is only a chapter
And no matter how much it hurts, no matter how much the ink bleeds from tears, one day we'll turn the page and it can only get better from there
Because I would sell my soul to Aphrodite, be shot by Cupid for an eternity, to make this feeling last forever, though that won't be needed
I'd break myself into pieces like flower petals to hand to you, just to see you smile
And I'd rip the world to shreds looking for the shards of your broken soul
If life was a puzzle then you would be my missing pieces, waiting for the perfect moment to fit into place
When I'm drowning you time and time again prove to be my lifesaver, pulling me to the surface for air, even if it's only a breath
And as the waves crash over our heads, filling our mouths with searing salt like fire, I promise I won't let go
And in the swirling of winds and rapids tearing at our skin, I won't lose sight of you
Because even in sleep I can't escape the thought of you
Even my dreams are strung with flickers of us dancing, a wonderland that makes the day pale in comparison
Soon that wonderland will seep between the folds of reality, and I'll be able to call you mine under the light of our broken halos
With you the sky is not the limit, only the very beginning
The stars will be in reach, and I could mistake your eyes for the expanse that we call space
So let us hang from the heavens, our story displayed like constellations, and abandon the world
Because in the end, who cares if our hearts are heavier than feathers? I see no greater burden than love
***
Happy early Birthday to a very, very special someone :]
(go follow that someone right now, they're absolutely amazing (want reasons? reread the poem) and this part is dedicated to them, you have no excuses)
bows
curtains close
(also this is my application to the hopeless romantics club—)