true stories (poem)

Lies of omission lying bitter on a bitten tongue
Not telling lies
Not telling truth
The desperation
of
Imbalance of need
Shifting
Power
In bloody increments
The marks I ask for
To prove
I'm alive
Bitten flesh
Gone purple-yellow
In places
I can mostly conceal
The words
Falling
Away
Like ballistic interference
Shrapnel
Wounding
Where no one can see
Don't want me to love you
This is too fragile
Too tenuous
Tissue-paper thin promises
We recognized as lies
As the saturation of lust
Turned them to
Shreds

You whisper
I sigh
You take
What
I
Want
You
To

Observing silence
In the after-hours
Absence
of
Sense
to leave well enough
alone
Leaving
When
I don't
Know what else to do

Carrying the scent of you on my skin
Your taste in my mouth
Weighed down
By sins
of
Omission
But only telling you the truth