aimee

how can i read poetry
when i want to cut out my own tongue

how can i stand before you
when i want to never be seen again

i simply want to be left alone
away from your dissections and half-nods
i need nurture and my inner chambers
i need proximity to gas-less ovens
and bladeless baths

aimee mann over and over
i think of magnolia
the line i was always so quick to quote
"i have so much love but
no where to put it."

these days i have no love
nothing to give
and i want it all to myself

when i speak i can be mistaken
or i can be bared and examined
i don't think i will stand
up to sane standards of common man
and even your poetic heart
will push aside or dismiss
as pretty words meaning nothing

no subtlety of suicide note
detected

can you hold my hand
but promise not to look
at my face


for a little while?