nobody warned me that people came without seatbelts. nobody warned me about the aftermath, where a sharp turn can land you straight on your back, and i've been on my back too many times to count on two hands. 2. create an escape to a world where you are the conductor of the train, you hold the reins to the horse, you have the controls to the carousels so you control your heart. 3. everyday is holding a bouquet of roses and jumping out in front of traffic going seventy because i killed myself alive. who knew that one person can make you pick apart yourself until you really don't know who you are anymore? 4. the way you shifted from heartfelt promises to throwing every single obscenity at me reminds me of how i shifted from lukewarm coffee to burn my throat hot coffee. 5. you're thick on the air and i can hardly breathe. 6. i claw at my skin, insecure about how i've become, knowing i've changed because of the anxiety you give me. 7. cows are branded to show ownership, and i feel like you poked me with a white-hot branding iron without remorse. i manage to push through each day. 8. the confidence i used to have in myself deteriorated over the years. it feels like i'm standing in a choir singing the loudest and my voice is slowly fading into all the other voices and losing harmony until even i cannot understand what i'm singing. 9. i'm still so embarrassed that i held on to something that has no intentions of staying for so long. i'm sorry i held on so tightly where i was constricting you, you needed air. 10. i cannot go another day without you, yet i want to go every day without hearing your name or seeing your face.