Words
can't hurt me
(especially the ones
starting with a C)
though I have a hypothesis –
I become what other people
already consider me to be
and I still can't tell apart
being crazy and just having a bad night

I'm not cold, I'm just emotionally inept
– insert ghosts from my past creeping out
from under my bed –
and for God's sake
stop calling me a wreck
–insert overused metaphor
about the Titanic
and the inevitability of death–
self-centered does make sense
– insert weak apology
or just count the I's and me's and my's –
but if you call me crazy
it all comes down
to the oldest question of all time –
*am I mad
or am I just wasting this life?