What one does not say
Echoes within
Builds like amplifier feedback
And comes out changed
What such a one as I
Swallow in retraction
To nurse and perfect
Till silence owns me
How long have I avoided you
Truth
You who lingers upon my tongue
And finger tips
Who I know but shush
So no consequences face me
Oppressed by fear
Pressurized by need
Building in anxiety
As good things distort
And all for the sake
Of an irrefutable retort
Here is to public failure
In a dangerous world
That has been and will
Continue to bleed
And be bled
And here is to my place in it
Despite what I may not know
Despite what I may not be
For I must use these breaths
Until they leave me