Don't offer the fuel it needs
to set you on fire

The tongue is lethal,
A sweet coating for a rotten core.
Every shift of the tide
is another lie.

The tongue is lethal,
a small dose of poison for the chronically ill.
Every promise is broken
and my heart becomes frozen.

The tongue is lethal,
a silent drowning in shallow water.
Every attempt to demoralize
the psyche brings tears to my eyes.

The tongue is lethal,
an eye wide open as my mind drifts to sleep.
This tongue of mine
is a weapon for surefire demise.

Do you ever want to spit your own tongue out
Apologize to God for using it as a sword to slit your own throat after absent-mindedly digging into the hearts of others with your words

Do you ever want to shove your brain into a suitcase and "accidentally" leave it on a train headed for the bottom of the sea
Because you don't know how to use the thoughts that have grown from your own brain stem

Are you ever allergic to yourself?
Do you sneeze as you sniff your own stupidity?

Do you want to soak in a bathtub full of forgiveness
Wash yourself with the soap of solitude
(re-surface your skull)

Well
I need to remember that nobody is perfect
And that I shouldn't hate myself

But all of me has self-destructed for existing
How do you stuff a pipe cleaner into a soul

How to come back from that

How to clean out the inside of a straw

How to yank open a locked-jaw and leave it gaping
in order to be filled with the endless

love
mercy
acceptance

Offered by the Person who has created me

into more than I could have ever been by my--

self.