In Place of You

There are these black moments,
haunted in the shadow of the night,
your fingers wrapped gently
in my hair,
your lips pressed softly
against the hollow of my neck
and the slow rise
of this clawing desperation
as I try to keep you to me.
I am already aware
that I am incapable of leaving you,
that even when the two of us
are apart there is still
the bruises from your fingers
fading slowly across my skin,
my heart a dull ache
between my ribs
as I attempt to claw myself open
to find you, extract your essence
from the marrow of my bones,
the whites of my eyes
and the scrape of my nails
along my skin.
I'll hurt myself in place of you,
at least until your return.