this red & rotten feeling spread in fevered

pitches of heat waves, into fingertips and

across my forehead, a flash of flooding inside

my brain.

you don't know, that you break me with your words.

carelessly tossing me on tumble-dry while i stumble,

and you don't stop to help me up.

we collide, inadvertently, and the corners of my mouth are pinched:

my smile's always too late.

my eyes turn iron-grey and storm-swept when you are turning

away from me, tomorrow they will

oxidize and rust.

will you notice them?

you don't know, that you break me with your words.

i lean towards you, hoping for some tangency, for a conversation

that isn't long division and leaves me with a simple solution

instead of a remainder.

i'm rejected & rebuffed, more oceans to set sail upon, to fight and

fail against, me versus the sea.

you're used to seeing me with a heart burn , heart bruise, heart used.

fix me, fix me, fix me.

you could if you tried.

though i guess,

you still don't know that you break me sometimes

with your words.