I wore short sleeves today.
I couldn’t help but wonder what people thought when they looked at me.
I checked the nutritional facts on every food item I picked up and put every single thing back down where I found it.
I kept my head low and walked quickly but quietly.
I worried about the odds of someone taking me.
I put the groceries in my my car looking around as if I was expecting someone in particular to be there.

I’ve been bleeding
Water
For such a long time
Just a drop at a time
One drop doesn’t hurt
Like a leaky faucet
Whispering

Drip, drip, drip

Such a soft, sweet noise
But like a bottle breaking
In this empty room

Every hit
Fell like water
From the cracks in my arms
Every scratch
Every kick
Every scream
Every look
So much love
So much hate
Drip, drip, dripping
Into pools at my feet
Until I was bleeding water
Just a drop at a time
From one thousand wounds
And the sound became a roar
Like an ocean
I could drown in
A raging river
I could swim
But I fell into that noise
And all the drops
Became a din
Until my head was under water
And the world
Turned purple-blue
And the quiet
At last prevailed

Until the drops
Began anew

as i stumbled home—
chill bouncing through my jacket,
it was nice to follow the moon
as something tangible.

All you have ever done is take
And the only thing you have offered is hate
I have no more blood to give
You say you are the one who’s been hurt
The sad thing is
I believe you think that’s true
What did I ever do to deserve you
Monster

unknown i follow you
quietly in the dark
listen to your every word
the sound of L's and S's
slipping off your tongue
the curve of your chin
the edge of your jaw
the slight dip in your temple
the arc of your brow
every detail
in perfect clarity
unknown i cherish it
relish in it, even
until each finite drop has been lapped up
by my guilty, relentless eyes