Plague of My Heart
once upon a time,
a monster plagued my heart
my poor, poor heart
in the form of fear
and disappointment.
it had ferocious teeth
In the shape of my mother
And claws,
oh,
how the claws resembled my father.
in the tremendously empty night,
the monster
killed the little girl in my heart,
leaving no trace,
not one trace,
of her behind.
no matter how I cried
and screamed,
it seemed the monster would not leave.
the tragedy haunted me
until I was skin and more skin,
skin upon skin upon skin,
with daunting eyes and
teeth bitten hands.
I turned to words,
and words became lines,
and lines form bars,
bars that trapped me within
me, myself, me.
I did not understand
how these bars
would set me free.
No, not until someone
just one someone,
took my bars
and read them with their heart.
they took the bar from me,
to beat themselves free.
and in doing so,
they set me free,
of my guilt,
of my loneliness,
and of my
skin-built prison.