After you strangled my truth in the dark
our conversations grew increasingly stark
fear was the undertone of all my thoughts
but I couldn’t acknowledge the security that I’d lost
to keep the peace I hid behind my words
but I couldn’t untwist the meaning you heard
ripped too soon from my lips
you’d fill in the blanks of truths you thought that I’d skipped
somewhere in the open air
what I said became an affair
or maybe this time I disrespected your mother
to live in silence was my only cover
but then you’d complain that we didn't connect
conveniently forgetting your hands around my neck
and over time you worked your magic
twisting our roles so that you were pragmatic
your hands never touched me in the same violent way
but you berated me for words that I did not say
and fashioned my truths into a barbed wire noose
which somehow portrayed you as the safety from which I could not stray

Cutting ties from the woman I never knew means letting go of remnants of you
Each growing perplexing in my thoughts and distant in my memories
Who were they?