The Thing with Talons

09/01/21

There’s a monster

Living under my skin.

I’ve seen it in the mirror and

I’ve felt it shifting my face into its own.

I don’t know where it came from or

How long it plans on staying.

Maybe it’s decided

I feel like home,

And it’s here to stay.

It wouldn’t be the first to feel that way.

And I feel it in my heart,

Where it claws into me and holds me

With anger and fear and despair.

And I don’t know where

To go to leave it behind

Because it’s infested me in body and in mind.

And I don’t know how to run

When it controls my legs.

And I don’t know how to escape

When it feels like we’re becoming one.

And I don’t know how to live

When it’s screaming that we need to be done.