I hide my words in spirals
They unravel, cutting me
These notebooks with pages
Wired together like a jaw
Wired shut to keep the words in
I tear myself open on them
My blood runs like ink
Staining paper with thoughts
I hide these notebooks in closets
On high shelves like high fences
Words out of reach, enclosed
Behind barbed wire, words
Wired electrically, joining
To become a shocking fence
That separates us, a barrier of pages
Stacked in ordered lines
I hide my truths from you
These words you’ll never see
Like lines cut from a poem,
Like phone lines cut off
Wires disconnected, promising silence
From harsh words that shred skin
And could tear us apart
So I keep my secrets
Sparing you their paper cut sting
Keeping you from bleeding
On the page beside me
