crystal walls

you feel your spine
torn through your skin
and pinned to a board,
each shoulder the tip of a butterfly wing
trapped behind sheets of frozen glass

your lips
forced into a plastic smile
bear your teeth, 
a passive aggressive dig at those who look close enough to notice
but still are silent

hint- 
the whiteness of knuckles
that grip hard to create an illusion of control,
to stop the vibrations of emotion,
compressed into a spring wound tight

tendons along your neck strain 
to keep your chin above endless mutterings 
that threaten to drown- 
whispers make up the stones that fill your pockets
heavier than the edge of stares that follow your path

shot down by your glare and clench of jaw
you shatter the windows and scrape your knees climbing out and 
blood drips red like roses marking the floor as claimed and 
you, 
stand up tall. 

like waiting for a bus in the rain

Drops of gasoline drench your skin
it droops and sags and you scratch at yourself 
till scarlet stripes boldly mark you as claimed but you still
cannot escape
the confines of tar that cling to your heart, iron shackles binding the wrong places

you see your sister 
your mother 
your eight year old self-
your pulse is in your toes erratic and loud,
the gallop of stallions; 
but all you can hear is the flutter 
of a thousand hummingbirds in your chest
and they are drowned by the storm in your throat

torn down, tiny needles prick and stab and you're filled and you feel
like bullets have torn through your skin in the place of nails 

inhale
and suffocate 
as expectation apprehension supposition uncertainty infuse your lungs till there is no room for the air that you breathe 
and you struggle to keep your head up

then grasp at the embrace of warm words to heat up your frozen fingertips
unfurl from beneath yourself and reach
upwards
falling is not so bad

embiggening

you grow up from the ground
branches rip like knives 
stabbed in and torn down
with the weight of expectations
in your shallow skin

your leaves drip with ice
brittle and harsh
warning
toughen up your fingertips
they cannot hurt you

on your bark is morse code
fragmented speech
that can't connect
with
cracks and line breaks
look at me

infinite skies sink into the night,
stars shine on you
stars will shine on you
thank them
breathing
you will be fine