hemochromatosis

i had a dream about you 
in which your bones pressed into the soft fat of my stomach 
and when the sun hit my eyes I was 
genuinely terrified 

you smelled like you did 
your hair falling in all the correct patterns 
the scaly grafts of your skin weaving together 
to form a melancholic tapestry of tears 

the chronic hunger in our stomachs fester 
slowly crawling up through our throats 
and blossoming at the corner of our mouths 

is it possible for you to shift into an illusion? 
maybe if I reached my arms out far enough 
we could bridge the gap to bring you home