Foreordained

Nothing about us was meant to last.
We were illegal firecrackers
And the 70¢ beers
Purchased at the späti
By Winsstraße 15.

We were spoilt fish
And we were always stinking stale.
No matter how we cooked
And what spices we used,
We simply tasted all wrong.

It was uncomfortable,
The oddness when we were together,
Like bits of broccoli in our teeth
That frequently lingered
In spite of heavy duty brushing.

The impermanence showed herself
When I came to the airport
For you
And was banged up in the Grab,
The idiot driver fell asleep
And I made it to you bleeding.
But what if I didn’t—
Would we still have
Not made it?

We were always doomed.
I only heard it when you
Were defeated: a broken man.
And I, you said—
Was the one to break you.

I was the dead albatross
You shot with your crossbow.

The earnestness of your eyes
Couldn’t placate the piercings.
Sometimes they ran too deep
And before they could heal
The funeral fire already burned.

So, my breathtaking Love,
We were always going to fall.
We were always going to fade and
Our hearts were going to shatter.
I just wish we had been quieter
Without sounding the trumpets
And without shouting from rooftops
Our love was here
And now its coffin is.