i don’t owe you a thing
not a single ******* thing
yet with a word
you can grab the very breath from within my lungs and pull it out
like pulling apart a dreamcatcher’s knitted strings
like pulling apart a knotted vine
and i facilitate it
by separating my ribcage
take everything
take my lungs, too

i can’t turn away
i can’t stay silent
your words pull my words out from the inside of my throat
living tree roots poking out of my neck
growing
crawling over my tongue and teeth
slipping between my lips
wrapping around your neck and entering your ears
i want so badly to squeeze
but i don’t control these roots
i should be their master
but i can’t tame them.

why is it that when i intend to say
shut the **** up
leave me alone
and go away
i instead say hello?