after surviving
a form
of angel
hazing
the boy’s
disability
presented itself
in full
five months
from its
inception
and chose
therapy
locations
owned
fifty-fifty
by the conceptual
folk
known as
bewildered church
and stray
field
and went on
to signal
the boy
with a bruise
here
and a bruise
there
on its way
to a survival
from which
it would not
recover

has jaded become me
or becoming in me?

or is it merely
these words only go inspoken
barricaded by better judgement
never breathing the air
outside my grey matter.

the burns and cuts i
swallow back against weaponizing
become acidic and brokenbottle edged
implements of self imposition.

i appear human
but i am a statue inside.