‘tainted new love’


May our memories follow you around like a ghost
Not like a shadow,
we were never quite that close

May the tendrils of your recollection
Snake into the fabric of your new loves
And paint my face on theirs

May the parts of me you took
Wind around your happiness
And taint them with the wrong laughter

Because I wanted so badly
To be the best thing about your world
But you saw me as you see the sun
Only in discomfort when I shined my brightest
And in admiration when I lay down
and painted your room the brightest colours

But you looked to others, when I wasn’t there
So as the sun does, I will shine,
And pay no mind to your moons.
For they only glow in my absence,
With what remains of my light.