Love Bomb

Trigger Warning

It’s my first date. I’m nervous, man.

I’ve polished my casing until the

Moonlight slides off my hip like a silk robe.

I’m a heavy-set boy with a chemical heart,

Checking the altimeter,

Checking my teeth in the reflection of a

Passing cloud.

I’ve practised my opening lines for three

Thousand miles:

“Do you come here often?

Have you err… attended this school for a

While?

Psst… are you sleeping?”

I whisper to the concrete silo, to the

Playground,

To the target waiting with its arms wide

Open

And its foundation tucked cozy underneath the

Dirt.

My bros told me stories in the dark

Of the hangar -

About all the girls they met in ‘45, or ‘91..

How Little Boy was the greatest player who

Ever lived.

A proper charmer.

Left an entire city blushing a permanent

Shadow-burnt red.

Bragged about the way the asphalt bubbled,

A standing ovation of steam and

Pulverised glass. I dunno,

I’ve always been a bit of a romantic for legacy.

I want to share a love that’s heavy -

A love that displaces the air in your lungs.

I’m not here for a fleeting glance or a coy

“Maybe.”

I wanna be the reason the needle jumps on

The seismograph,

The reason they write your pretty name in

History,

Right next to mine, in a striking font of

Scorched carbon.

God dang, I’m falling for you, literally -

A clumsy, terminal tumble.

Hey, I hope you don’t mind that I brought flowers

A gorgeous spray of magnesium and white phosphorus.

I uh… hope you don’t mind that I’m a one-hit wonder.

We’ll have so much in common for a millisecond.

We’ll share the same atmosphere.

We’ll have the same shattered windows for eyes.

Hush now. Don’t be nervous. 
The pressure’s all mine.

Let’s skip the small talk and the appetisers.

I’m ready to give you everything I have -

My pins, my pride, my fucking atoms -

Until there is no me or you left,

Just a shared, glowing silence

And the crater where our phone numbers used to be.

Close your eyes… nah wait… keep them open.

I want to see the moment you realise,

I’m the best motherfucker that ever hit this town.

I’ll lean in real close, a trillion degrees of

Affection,

To catch that look of sudden, silver surprise

Etched into your glass before it turns into

Liquid.

Let’s smooch so hard we stop the clocks,

Make it a flashbulb pop for the books,

Capturing us in a strobe-light embrace.

Don’t worry about the mess we’re making,

Love this loud was never meant to be

Quiet,

And a girl like you was born to be a star -

Even if it’s just for the length of a spark.

Full disclaimer though, I’m the possessive sort,

The kind who never really learns how to leave.

Once the kiss is over and the flash fades to smog,

I sink into your soil.

I sprinkle your earth with salt that ensures

Nothing will ever grow tall enough again,

To forget the day we met.

I obliterate hearts. I rewrite DNA.

I am death. I am burnt flesh.

I am the heavy-metal scream in your lungs.

Wanna create cute little terrorists together?

Shards of us scattered in the wreckage,

Waiting to bite the hands of anyone who,

Tries to clean us up. No? 

Well shucks…I guess, I’m not a gentleman, after all -

I’m just some radioactive phlegm in your casserole.