We are tepid tap water to your sparkling honey wine
We skin scrawny rabbits while you flense whales
We feed our goldfish while you shepherd hurricanes
We nurse paper cuts while you brush off harpoons
We gather kindling as you orchestrate lightning
We keep our monsters under the bed while you teach yours to fetch
We drown our sorrows in alcohol while yours grow antlers every spring
We pray the storm will pass while you scratch it between the ears and give it raw meat
We knock politely while you have language leave the key under your doormat
We save the good china while you drink from the skull of a dire wolf
We seek new distractions while you ram your head in the ribcage of ennui
We bring umbrellas to the monsoon of your appetite
We squint at constellations that etch your name in gold
We bury our dead and you teach them sea shanties
We who fear our own shadows while yours crawls away to molt
and returns – more raging and fierce than ever
You, bolt of lightning in the coffin of complacency