In the daily quarrel
When words fall upon ****** and deaf ears
Repetition is agitating
Boiling beneath the flesh
Festering like a toxin of lingering potency
Snaking its way into the corners of the mind
Push it down, cast it away
Do not allow the flames to become you

Gripping tightly
Perhaps too much so
As it snaps beneath the pressure
Only a fraction made visible
The rest to be silenced
Only audible for one mind
Screaming and thrashing
Just beneath the surface

Stain the paper
Clutch the fragments
Dispose of the now useless thing
Punishment surely to ensue
For breaking things isn’t the answer they like

Purse your lips
Bite your tongue
Until it bleeds

Clench your fists
Knuckles white
Ding your nails into your palms

Walk away
Hold the chaos at bay
Pull the chain
For fighting would only be in vain
Causing nothing put pain
None, of which, for the enemy

Seething in a soundless cage
Is the inextinguishable rage
Fed in every passing day
Relentless, and you know what they say;
There is no rest for the wicked

Push me far enough
And I will not hold back
Break me enough
And I will become the monster you made me
Uncaged, unleashed
My tongue dripping acidic poison
My eyes visions of flames
My arms stained with well-worn lies
My hands red with “discipline”
My feet tired from running
My hair wild and untamed as a storm cloud
My clothes holding me tighter than a withheld breath
My will stronger than the iron fist wielded upon me

Let me go
Let me walk away
Before I let it all go
The raging fire I hold at bay.

- Jay M
April 6th, 2021