Magnolia

Your heartbeat is pulsing at night in your chest

It's gold and it's glowing with all the life you have left

I received your words from hospitals where you felt alone

Your words like smoke, they made me sick but they kept me warm

Run where you'll be safe

Through the garden gates

To the shelter of magnolias

Eyes like sea grass, so weathered and worn

From all they've seen of adolescence torn

The lovers who have tainted you, they pulled you into the night

They touched your skin with velvet gloves and made you feel alive