Keep the lights off,
I look too much like my mother today.

Pack the sadness up into boxes and
put it away. No one wants to see that anymore.

All my friends are rays of sunshine and
I have to bite my cheek.

I don't smile,
I bare my teeth.

I keep them all at arms length unless

they can feel their way through the hall
in the dark,

now that every room gets dim
with me inside of it.

In fact,

what if we sleep through this one?

What if I just lie down
and let the birds peck at me?