toxic sunset

i was choking on the yes i promise.
forever is a distance measured
in falterings. birds incinerating 
from that orange. smoke from 
a car wreck. holding your hand too long,
i told you the wedding was two-day delivery.
i knew you wanted it sooner.
wrapping the perfect moment in celophane.
the sunset dissolves flowers 
& leaves spider legs. slow dancing melts 
into still lives. i'm taking 
a perfect selfie for reminding myself
i love you. burning rubber smell.
passing a box of chocolates & refusing
to take the last one. it lives forever
as a planet of golden waiting.
i thought the sunset built herself
from sand but instead i find she is 
not edible. just like the moon,
she wants nothing to do with more 
honey & rose petal bathing. instead,
she hopes for dripping. wall paper peeling.
joyful army men trekking the side
of an old promise so broken it creaks
with each step. i used to be 
a camera lens. i window-stood & documented
exactly how to candy our hearts
in dusk. lately though i'm growing
poison apples. slicing them into horizons.
i think i'm falling in love with 
yellow. a blushing purple catches me
off guard & i am weeping. white-haired.
mothering a bruised pear. 
chemical burns. dragoned skin 
& soon our nylon morning. i brought 
a special barrier just to place
between myself your curiosities.
it's best to know as little as possible.
let the sunset take over. there is
a moment we could pretend is 
large enough to crush us like beetles.