i remember twisting my fingers in each hand, removing the suction between the bones with a popping click
click
click
click
i remember that sound, and how it wasn't nearly as loud as i wanted it to be, i remember the motion not being enough to cover up the trembling of my hands

i remember the moisture in my palms, the blood oozing up between my fingers, the red half-moons embedded in each palm
(crazy, vivid crimson)

i remember the soil and dust and dirt and twigs in my hair,
on my skin
in my clothes
on my body

i remember the cracked weakness every time i opened my mouth, as though i was cradling glass shards in my throat

i remember throwing up over the cracked asphalt road as i ran in the dying light;
my knees buckling beneath me,
my stomach lurching forward,
my lungs burning with each breath

i remember not knowing what was blood or sweat or tears in the dark, feeling the pain pool inside and the thoughts dribble out of the back of my skull,
gnawing to get back in, a dozen angry wasps knocking at sanity's door

and i remember the poison in your bones, the delirium in your eyes, and the cut of your touch
and being consumed alive by your invasion
never to return