Why Must I? (Poem)

                   

Why Must I?

Why must I tear at my own skin for you,
rip myself open just to be seen?

Why must I choke on the rust of your name,
swallow shards of hope like they'll save me,
knowing they only carve deeper wounds?

Why must I set myself on fire,
watch you warm your hands on my ruin,
watch you smile at the embers of me?

Why must I carve myself down to nothing,
beg for a love that spits me out,
a love that leaves my ribs hollow?

Why must I watch you touch another,
while I rot in the silence of your absence,
left to decay in the shadow you never cast?

Why must I burn, bleed, starve, shatter--
unravel in every way I know how,
and still, you never even tremble.