My words black and blue,
fractured echoes of a silence that roars.
I’ve finally lost you,
or perhaps just buried you deeper,
beneath the weight of unspoken truths.

Abuse doesn’t hide far;
it lingers in the marrow,
seeping into glances,
the falter of a smile
that struggles to reach the eyes.

I remain small,
and cracked till now,
a vessel that holds fragments
but leaks with every breath.

To share is to shatter,
to place the jagged edges of myself
into the trembling hands of another.
But I’ve learned—
not all hands are steady.

Secrets live best in shadows,
nestled beside shame,
wrapped in vines of memories
too sharp to untangle.

The key rests in the jungle of my soul,
forgotten,
or perhaps,
guarded.