Secret

The secret I keep
buried within
is yet another brick
in the walls I’ve built –
the walls I use
just to keep people out.
I am desperate
for the quiet solitude
that I’ve created
and hidden deep
within the prison
I’m secluded in.
The calm
and collected control
that I’ve found here
is unparalleled.
These mighty walls
keep out all
that threatens to hurt me –
all that threatens to harm me –
to break me.
And I find peace
and comfort
in their safety
and strength;
but,
the darkest secret
held in the deepest recesses
of this labyrinth
is that it has also become
the thing I despise the most –
a debilitating,
torturous
prison.

Venom

I bite down on my tongue until it bleeds,

filling my mouth with the venom

of all the hateful words I hold back –

of all the truths I keep myself from spewing out.