I kept holding on to this relationship, as if I were biting into it harder and harder
but no blood ever came, only the sensation bruising deeper and deeper

if I bit just a little harder, I thought it might bleed
and then we might truly be connected
but no matter how hard I bit, in the end, nothing ever bled
only a bluish bruise quietly spreading

that’s when I realized
this wasn’t love, but an obsession with a trace that refuses to fade
I tried to prove love, but in the end, the only thing proven was my wound

without sound, without form
it hurts even without a single drop of blood
it shames even without tearing the flesh
I wanted to tell you
how much I loved you,
how deeply I was consumed by you

But in the end, I was biting into a you that wasn’t there