Choose

Leah Baxter

I’ve asked that you choose
between dying on my chest
or atop a notebook of my poetry.
Choose love, or no love.
Not choosing is cowardice.
There can be no compromise
between Paradise and Hellfire.

Throw in all your cards,
And I’ll be content with any decision.
Talk to me. Become inflamed — Explode!
Just don’t stand unwavering like a nail.
It’s impossible for me to wait here forever
like hay under the rain.
Choose one destiny between the two —
and oh, how extreme my options are.

You’re exhausted, and scared,
and my journey is very long.
Plunge into the sea with me, or leave.
There’s no sea without a little seasickness.
Love is a major confrontation
Like navigating against the current;
Trial, torment, and tears
Like‬ traveling between moons.‬

Your cowardice is killing me, woman.
You’re sneaking around behind a curtain.
I don’t trust a love
that isn’t as reckless as a revolutionary,
that won’t tear down every wall,
that doesn’t surge like a cyclone —
Yes, if only your love were to swallow me,
to tear me out by the roots, like a tornado.

I’ve asked that you choose
between dying on my chest
Or atop a notebook of my poetry.
There can be no compromise
between Paradise and Hellfire.