buried screams and distant smiles
turn to insignificant ash that slips through your fingers.

freshwater tears and mitigated pleas
constrict my airways until I’m numb.

empty commitment spills from indifferent dialogue,
forcing my veins to bleed life into a dead heart.

yellowed bruises and sinister apologies
viciously hold my gaze from the shadows.

protective sinew and cradling arms
mutate into perverse devils with unquenchable thirst.

hands that sting and eyes that tear
blind my collapsing sanity to its sickening reality.

“you’re not safe.
this is torture.”

how did your heavenly light
turn to such lustful darkness?

when will my cowering words
blossom into self defense?

my soul longs for the day
when your stabbing eyes finally see

every individual tear-soaked knife
pressed against my trembling throat.