Claim my burden but never
offer your shoulder
to confide,
to cry,
But you have no tears to spare.
Trying to eat the slice of pie
I spent hours baking,
you spent seconds eating.
Those peaches were freshly picked!
Bathed in bicarb!
I scrubbed the dirt
until it was nothing but
another piece of myself
for you to snatch.
I do not swallow sweetness,
I choke on copper,
throat bursting to the brim
with pennies-
the same pennies you offer
in penance
for the burden of lead that
nooses my neck.
You wear it by choice;
by Gold,
by Glory,
believing our blood is the same drop split in two.
Though it is proven to be yours for the taking,
you will be tasked with breaking each
frozen finger,
forced to pry your prize from
my bruised palms.