My corset of secrets
Is growing tighter
What was once a hug
Has become a noose
Tight
Too tight
I can't
B  R  E  A  T  H  E


Where some wear their corset
For the world to see
So that others may take some of their secrets
And loosen the strings,
I hide mine beneath my skin
And instead of giving the
S  T  R  A  N  G  U  L  A  T  I  O  N
To others,
I simply try to shrink my own lungs to make room


But sometimes
When I take too deep a breath
And my corset has become just a little
Tight
Too tight
I find that it may squeeze out my blood
And make my veins twist and shriek
Until they rip free of my body
And reach for a paper


Then my veins,
Bursting with secrets too tight,
Dance across the paper and
My blood forms words that my mouth never could
And all the secrets my corset held
Are released in a flurry of pain and
P  A  S  S  I  O  N


For that corset of mine
Has become just a bit
Tight
Too tight
To escape from
So it has tattooed my body with secrets
So hard to keep
And sometimes, when I climb into bed
And my ribs are cracking
It's easier to let my blood loose
Than to shed that cursed corset


The words of red
That stain the paper,
That's what I call poetry
That's what I call art
A way for  me to cut the strings
Even if only a little bit


Poetry comes from my
V  E  I  N  S
It comes pouring from my
B  L  O  O  D
Late at night
When my corset's too tight