Free me

from this room of flesh,

this shelter shaped from bone.

Open the door with a word—

a phrase I’ve never known,

yet if spoken,

I’m sure it would call me back

from this hollow home.

Sticks and stones,

and broken bones,

could never rival

the wounds your words left in me.

All I am is survival.

You took the keys away.

So I remain,

locked inside myself

a prison without a door,

chaos you ignore,

a crime without a witness.

You left me with this sickness.

I will never be free

as long as I am still

within me.