There was a boy
who lived high up in a tree
there was a boy that I loved so much
I loved him more than me

There was a boy
whose house was built so high
but I loved him every inch up the baby blue sky

There was a boy
who lived in a crooked tree
his roots grew so wild
he suffocated me

There was a boy
who built a rickety ladder up to his house
that creaked and cracked with every step
and as I approached his house
vulnerability drooled out of his eyes
he begged me not to come up
for no one had climbed so far up his stairs before
but I knocked and kicked and waited at his door
till he let me in.

Inside the tree
was consuming beauty.
I soaked myself in his secrets
and I stared with wonder at the things
no one else had ever saw
and with a shy smile he replied
“no one really knows me at all”

So the boy who lived in the tree
shared his sacred place with me
and when we got hungry we picked the ripest fruits
and when we got thirsty we squeezed their juice
It was never too cold because we had each other to breathe
it was never too hot because with warmth followed a breeze

But the leaves began to fall off of even the healthiest branches
and I saw his trunk weaken at the core
Branch by branch his tree began to break
the color of the leaves were fading green
I saw the vulnerability fill the boys eyes again
and pretty soon the boy gave up on his decaying tree
he refused to love something that would die
the boy told me it was my fault
that before he was fine
So he took one last look at me
and jumped out of his tree
he said he wanted to glide with the leaves
he wanted to be with all the pieces he lost from me
He plunged to the ground
where he rested with his leaves
I stared at the boy
that I once feverishly loved
the boy that I loved every inch to the ground
I knew that the boy loved himself
far too much to ever leave room for me
So I picked the longest vine
and tied it around my neck
I let the noose catch me on my way down
I dangled lifelessly above the boy who once lived in a tree
I would stay as close as he would let me be.