tear it from my body- inky tendril by tendril
fuzed into my spine- commanding me when I'm nervous

I'm swinging from a pendulum, so high I'd crack my skull if I fell

choke it down so far down- the black phlegm that lines my lungs
that spit soaked yarn expanding- and collapsing with my breathing

I laugh behind a palm that hides black spores
eyes so dead behind my smiles
coughing- spitting up tar so vile it nauseates

I sleep with all the shards haunting my peripheral
fragmented memories pungent with

emotions I can't soak off
scrub and scrub- wish to rinse off down a drain

how is no one else seeing the stains-
that coat my skin in layers of ink
dripping from my skin and splashing with every step I take