valentine

You are not an individual.

You are a collective.

One might say you are legion,

but I can’t bring myself to demonize you.

You are the same as you always have been.

You come over,

we meet for the first time,

again.

I take you in,

more than you do me, and—

you leave.

I spit and brush my teeth,

rinse and repeat,

and when I can’t taste the difference between it and my toothpaste, 

maybe I won’t feel so dirty anymore.

It’ll be just like brushing my teeth!

My teeth will be just as white,

if not more.