every minute that passes is another minute you’re forgetting

every moment I stand here without fire coming from my teeth is a moment you won’t need me

I need you to put me on a shorter leash

my bones were made of glass and your hands are the thunder that shakes the whole house

you’ve done damage to me

but I’ve done the most destruction to myself

you cannot beat me at my own game

I will shatter every vase in the house before you open the front door

and there will be dead flowers in my hair

and bugs between my teeth

you cannot be, or become, stronger than me

he called me warm and weak in the same sentence and I thought; how ironic it is that spiders will die just to live in the sugar bowl

every minute that passes is only another minute for my skin to regenerate itself until it becomes skin you have never had the privilege of touching

every moment that I exist without asking for your permission is extraordinary

when I talk in my sleep I apologize

when I cut my lip I don’t bleed, I leak- I leak lavender and lake water, sugar and melted ice cream

the bees do not sting me because they know

I say, "trust me"

you ran your fingers through my hair and turned it red with someone else’s blood

now I am being punished for sins I never committed

asking for forgiveness when I should be demanding it

every minute that passes is another minute my skin gets thicker- but I peel each new layer off like a snake

I was not born to become jaded, I was not born to taste bitter

my fingers are close to that of cotton candy and my skin isn’t far from paper

people like us, we were not born to have thick skin

people like me have skin so thin you can see lilac veins through the creases in my body

I keep each new layer on a hanger in the closet to remind myself

but just because they are there

it does not mean the calloused skin is something I have to wear