for men I have been 
sex-kitten/goddess/mother/the hottest 

                            cherry red corvette/revving engine/tank full of gas 

for myself I have been 
lost/downtrodden/deficient/forgotten 

                             emaciated mule/worn saddle-bags 

empty arms 
held open 
accept burdens 
of others 

                              crystalline bay/azure seas/incoming black ooze/ à la Exxon-Valdez 

vacancy burns 
detaches 
smothers 

                               ocean aflame/ducks slick with oil/corporation to blame/they keep the spoils 

love to seek 
from without/desperation 

                               worker bee/flits flower/to flower 

love not born  
from within/a negation 

                               nectar/belongs/to the queen 

when self-image is formed in the eye of another
the cost is the loss of one’s primary lover