Being Eaten (Poetry)

I have a dragon inside me
that eats a little more each day
I feel him gnaw and grind his teeth
slow nibbles — strips my heart away

until I’m almost hollowed out
just like a cave that echoes sound
and all the hope it ever held
is shrivelled small and bouncing round ...

Life’s engine runs on empty now
the beast has chewed me off the bone
thin ribs a-rattle bar our cage
the one he shares with me alone

There’ll come a time when nothing’s left
no second helping — not a crumb
Love’s parasite shall feast no more
plate licked so clean his dinner’s done