Fracture

The reflection flickers as the reel replays.

Blink twice and it's gone.

A pinch to remind myself I'm here.

-

I smile, but it doesn't fit right.

Eyes too wide, not enough gleam.

Dusty from when they were boarded up many moons ago.

-

The ceramic mask slides back into place.

Perfection.

Except for the crack

that fractures across the middle

and the chip on the right cheek.

-

Stare at it for too long

and you'll see it for what it truly is.

Grotesque betrayal.

-

You carry the heartbreak like all strong women,

between the steel bars of your ribcage.

And I do as cowards do.

-

A dark reminder festers in my body.

Eyes roll back… like hers.

Arms limp… like hers.

Head heavy… like hers.

I never deserved her small hand on mine.

-

The edges of the memory are sharp,

the salt pressed on my flesh stings.

723 of the smallest cuts and counting.

By the time it reaches a thousand,

death should greet me as an old friend.

-

A fair penance for salvation.

A noble offering.

-

For you bled your heart

at the hands of my unworthy soul.

You slew the demons that lay siege at your door.

-

But even now you cannot see

the one that slipped inside your defences.

The one that haunts me in the daylight,

and consumes me while I sleep.

It stares at me from beyond the mirror—

it’s the monster that lives with me.