Create Space

i try to type

the words

on the screen

but the backspace key

seems to have a mind of its own

keeps deleting the text

i try saying the words

out loud

but they freeze in my throat

before melting away

into my gut

i have spent

a lifetime

believing that the most

blasphemous words

in the English language

that I could ever say were

vulnerable

need

fragile

help me

don’t leave

i do not allow

my traitorous tongue

to admit weakness

frantically trying

to convince everyone

convince myself

that I am

invincible

i zealously defend

and protect a heart

strong as steel

deep as ocean

battered and dented

delicate as glass

burying it so deeply

it would take an archaeologist

to unearth it

i ignore that i have body

that I am flesh and bone

blood and sweat

curves and edges

heartbeat and sighs

my sanity depending at times

on my…