A sea of promises,
Glittering in the sun.
I ignore their danger;
light caught in cut glass.
I’m not supposed to open up like this.

I don’t wear armor
but my heart is made of snakes and roses.
Squeezed and thorny,
I never asked you to hold it.

If only I understood how you smoke,
wafting up from little fires;
hands made of barbed wire.
A wind of whispered secrets.

You can tear my flesh apart,
rip it bone from marrow.
Grasp my iron ribcage
and try to pry me free.

Somehow you almost convinced me
that bleeding feels good.
But it just makes a mess.

Let me be a ghost.

11/18/2020

Author's Note: Something sitting in my files since last month. I forgot to post it.

Posted on 11/18/2020
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