A cool band of stainless steel
Wrapped itself around my stomach
And my coffee cup
Simultaneously.

In response I
stop-drop-rolled in defensive reflex
And came up fighting

With my eyes but not my
Fingers--they had twisted themselves
So often into places
They should not have gone

That they had all broken
Off. Like your sentences.
When you hated me.
But you had too many lies
To have time for that truth.

Like my tongue.
When I tried to speak all those
Lessons I thought I'd learned--
I found myself silent
And straining

Not to reach you anymore,
But to remember that once
I had.

Once, I knew the secret to your
Liplock like the access code to the
Hidden safe

In the 7-11, where the midnight clerk
Knows nothing, and only has $50
She swears--

But if you wrapped your arms around
Her throat and whispered to her
The things you'd do if you didn't get
What you wanted

She'd dissolve into a puddle of
Panic and abject terror

Like I did, once.
Before I remembered how you
Stole my hands,
Keeping them locked inside yours.

That was the day
A cold band of stainless steel
Wrapped itself around my stomach
And my coffee cup
Simultaneously.

In response I
stop-drop-rolled with my sanity
Left it outside
And came back in
Kick-scream-fighting with my eyes.

05/04/2003

Posted on 05/05/2003
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