I went far to ask him
he was hard to speak to
Pain:
what’s your face?
show me your name.
he was hard to look at
Pain:
how should I feel?
feel like a turtle in its cave
feel like a bat in its shell
don’t touch it bites
I remember a time
the time was a turtle I lived inside
teachers called me sweet
on the playground I kissed Cody
threw rocks at him too
they said that was wrong
I had a cave with a bed inside it
the bats raised me to sit still
Pain stays out of the dark
is what they said
until he didn’t
I fell off the merry-go-round
a rock got stuck in my knee
my nail ripped off
pencil-lead in my hand, they sent me
to the nurse
the nurse raised me to always
wear a shell, Pain can’t break
through a Band-Aid
but it ripped, I was poisoned
they sent me to my parents
my parents raised me
with love because
love conquers pain
but I was weak
lost the fight. I was always
on the run, the chase sent me
to a cave
a dead end
I sat still so he could take me
I was raised to hate pain
they said it could kill me
they sent me to him like a soldier,
an assassin to a faceless enemy
killer of the foe behind the curtain
but I saw him—they said not to
I felt him, I kissed him
they said it was wrong.