tainted obligation

you fight hard to make meaning of metaphors,
and yet you miss the whole point.

697 times. over and over and over,
poked at, prodded, skipped around,
alluded to, (the big picture in the
tiny molecules that make up the
thread that makes up the sweater
that covers up the body that is
made up of molecules, not like
those of the sweater, but close
enough to point out inconsistencies),
over and over and over...

and you might fight fire with fire
but i promise i will fight with a different kind
the kind only i can produce at my core
the kind that:

breaks every inhibition
lasts longer than a five-syllable word
remains truer than a momentary "right" conviction
fills every vein with a pump-pump-pump that inevitably
will tear inequalities apart.

(i can't see anything else that could be
any more appropriate.
you can hit me all you would like to,
you can stab me, slash me, cut me open.
i won't blame you.
just remember - these veins run deep,
red as the freshly falling leaves,
spilling out every letter that i
refuse to form on my tongue:

you can fight fire with fire
but i will fight your fire with all of my love.)