Unguarded

When did this happen?
When did this tousled little ball of fur
become a single fire burning
at the top of the world?

When did the world shift and make you mine?
I wish I could recall ever letting my guard down.
But the truth is you've spread like a drop of red paint
slowly stretching through the plumbing of my veins,
and the passages of my mind.

When did it happen?
When did this sleeping god awaken
to shred the shell I once met
and plant the new seed?

When did the sprout burst, and its leaves?
I wish I could recall ever seeing it grow.
But the truth is it's here, rooting you in my home,
slowly growing into the webs of my bones,
reaching into a memory, into my heart...

awakening the fear that I
have spent a hundred lifetimes forgetting
and still failed.