The crumbled up paper in my trash wants to be read.
It wants you to unfurl its wrinkled edges
And take you back
To where we left off last night.

I am beginning only now to see how
Words are like knives, they make us bleed—
Pare us down to thin slices
Till all that is left is me and you

The syllables like pearls on our tongues,
Weightless as cotton,
Repeating themselves over and over
Like the self-absorbed rain—me, you, me, you …

You were the one to teach me about words
You were the first,
The only one.
Words with meaning:

Amor, Sangre, Eternidad.
Love, Blood, and Eternity,
Three rings linked together
Round and around my finger.

Now the only rings left are the ones
Below your eyes.
New words are being entered
Into my vocabulary daily by you, words like:

Sacrificio, Lagrimas, Dolor
Sacrifice, Tears, Pain.
Words are like bullets, you say
With your bullet-proof smile.

But my words don’t come easy
And I can only sit here and write
Las cosas que no puedo decir
The things that I cannot say.