Day: Sep 30, 2021

Had to hide my femininity in dresses made of steel,

Had to hide my pain in heels, and they made me bleed.

Not that I hate my features, not that I feel gentle,

My head is a wire in an atomic bomb being dismantled.

Had to hang in the ropes you tied around my chest,

Had to listen about your struggles without any rest.

Now my fake smile looks more like a crooked frown,

And I can only think about dragging you down,

Down here where I have lived for so many years.

There is something freeing about people without fear

And about places that are burning to the ground

As you stand there watching, helpless in a gown.

Had to hide my emotions in red wrapping paper,

Had to hide the grief so I could not find it later.

My past is now covered in inches of ash and dust.

I laugh in pure agony while you stare in haughty disgust.

-JW