Vermilion

love is concealed beneath the 

skin, hidden in every wrinkle

it consumes you like you’re 

drowning inside a sinkhole

and when they get you vulnerable,

they kiss you like they’re listening 

and they look at you with 

their eyes so intimately

we’re not on the 

same page though, 

you’re staring down on the front cover 

while I’ve been memorizing the quotes

we’re both hungry for something 

thrilling without commitment

the past has created a black hole in our 

psyches because this lack of fulfillment,

and that I can’t heal you by turning 

passion's pigment into crimson

the true shade of blood

is the color of eternity,

a reddened 

vermilion

- Leah Rae