Papercuts

if you could see me

on the inside

it would be barbed wire

cutting through my skin

and bleeding from within

it would be torn scraps of paper

floating in a windless darkness

that had all the things i couldn’t make myself say

papercuts

the tiniest scorch marks

on my heart

in my lungs

making my hands shake

my breath falter

burning the chords inside my throat

that used to play melodies

tears fall

for no reason

it would be my ribs breaking into fragments

crushing me

and pooling at the bottom of my feet

so that it takes everything

just to move forward

it would be echoes

of small joys

once felt and felt fleetingly

then, now, and to be

it would be ropes

painted in tar

so that they stick

coiled, to the recesses of the empty spaces

so that when i move

they throw me off-balance

falling like bricks

taking me with them

it would be unanswered questions

and empty thoughts

blank stares

into the mirror of my heart

it would be the muted screams

of all my past selves

scolding me

taunting me

for being afraid

of everything

if you could see me

on the inside

maybe then

finally

you would understand