when did love
become
something swallowed
& choked on,
stuck in your throat?
no longer a song
to be sung,
nor a star
to be chased,
not a promise made,
not a promise kept?
i never meant
for love
to be a hearth so hated.
never thought
i’d one day covet
walls of ice.
no, i never knew
i’d guard my center
as if it were gold,
somehow
forgetting
what happens to a heart
so long left alone—
yeah,
one day
i woke up and found
my gold
had become coal.