Inside

What is it you see when I bare myself, torn open, pins holding back the flesh, heart pulsing, shuddering in electric air, lungs shivering, exposed and rapid… I strain to see you, to read your expression. I scream out for it. What is it you see?

What is it you hear when I pour and pull the music from my throat, dig words out my gums from the raw, sharp root, eyes watering, glistened with agony; I’m desperate for it to sound like the truth… I cover my face, striving to zero-in on your voice. I beg for you to tell me. What is it you hear?

What is it you feel when I force your hand through my chest, ribs cracking, organs displaced, fingers splitting through sticky blood…. I wince, twisting your knuckles to pull you deeper; even if it kills me, I need to know what it is you feel inside.