Face-to-Face

[tanager]

Face-to-Face

You and I
stood face-to-face
for hours.

You admired the intricate
crinkle of my smile, the sagging
bags below my eyes—lifelike.
I admired your chocolate
irises and the shape of the wind
your hair traced—a pretty picture.

We envied each other
our hollow chests and placid
heads—that you yearned for
nothing.

You felt no pull to move
where you cannot. You, I knew,
could not feel the lack
of your own shape…

and we struck back at the world
that mocked us with statues
to coolly regard our want.