A parcel

I received a parcel labelled
HANDLE CAREFULLY!
CONTAINS FRAGILE MATERIALS,
MAY BREAK EASILY!

I wish I’d had such a label
stuck to my forehead,
written in big bold letters and
highlighted in red,

when I first encountered you at
my sister’s wedding.
Wish I’d been swaddled head to toe
in bubble wrapping

to keep me safe and prevent you
from damaging me.
I am as fragile as the glass
and when you break me

liquid comes spilling from my heart,
not milk, nor coffee,
but lonely tears and love-sick blood.
Discatastrophe!

All that protects me from harm and
holds me together,
just like a tape binds the parcel,
or like a tether,

are thin threads of my skin and hope,
which is not too much
as beyond the point of bursting
they already stretch.

My protective case is only
as strong as cardboard,
which would melt and dissolve quickly
if heavy rain poured.

And rain it does in my soul when
you don’t want to take
the love that I’m offering you.
Therefore, for the sake

of retaining my composure
and sanity too,
I wish you were as dead to me
as I am to you.