Sometimes we fall in love with an idea 
when the actual reality 
is too powerful to claim.
People often fit in this space
where we want to be near them 
even as their energy maims our tongues, touches, and senses.
No remedy exists
for our search for proximity
except to get closer, only to get branded.
So many words exist
for the ways we deface ourselves
by staying away when we should engage.
But you are not train tracks,
a lightning bolt,
or the sun.
You are not an inspiration or a muse,
because that arrogance does not become you,
because you incadesce without even realizing it.
And even though your shine obliterates me,
I can only register that glow in proximity to
so many other sad and sorry stories.