With time
I realized that the scars
I gave myself
in the deepest depths of my despair
Are merely shadows
across my skin
When compared to the scars I received
scraping my knee on the sidewalk
or
splitting my chin on a fence post
or cutting my arm
on a fallen bird feeder
in my backyard
when I ran too fast
with my childhood companions
in a state of blissful, happy, youth.

Nine cells
Nine columns
by nine rows
Eighty one spaces
Numbered one through nine
I do love logic puzzles.

Too bad I hate odd numbers

When I hear him say my name
it's like he is speaking to another
It rolls off his tongue unnaturally
and rings in my ears like a strange, foreign language
Not bad, just unexpected
It does not upset me
to be called baby or sweetie
but I do wish he'd say my name more
because it is the only way I can remember who I am

You have no voice
You have teeth
that gnaw at every part of my being
ripping my heart to shreds with the coldest of words

You have no voice
You have heat
that radiates through my body
with the most passionate of words

You have no voice
You have creatures
that swarm my insides
and fly around inside my stomach
and turn my knees to jelly
with the sweetest of words.

You have no voice
You have a microscopic turntable
that plays my favorite songs
and echoes them throughout my skull
with the most romantic of words

You have no voice
You have a power that allows you
to tear me apart
or put me together
or even make me love myself
with the simplest of words.