around you, I'm all ellipses. My sentences still make it through though. And my teeth are no longer fragile because I have let many of my secrets out when they threaten to spill over like tea time at noon. I was never an expert at lock jaw but it came as a surprise to find that I am still unlocked around you. There is a certainty now my gullible mouth won't break under the pressure of my past.

I am still trying to break down yours without a battle cry.

we build our characters. your body is "ex lovers, bruises and barriers." your hands are "loose change, determination, extra joints, destruction and creation." your eyes are "newly copper pennies and the season of spring" . I still don't know what I am somedays.