you put your arms around me and whispered
everything will remain unsaid
*
you collected things, memories,
to take them with you
to your grave
*
who said that I wanted to live there too
*
you collected
and I stand behind your footsteps
empty-hearted
*
you took your life from mine
*
and I learned how to love myself
because I mourned my selves
the bodies of mine you stole
my insides that you decorated yourself with
and mocked at the same time
*
you never taught me your language
because you didn’t want me to speak
language would terrify you
because it doesn’t keep a lid on your secrets
*
you were convinced that silence
evicts language
and you’d put my body below yours
so that I couldn’t form words
*
you never realised that your body language
branded itself on my skin
and everyone can see it and read it
and I write it
because I don’t leave things unsaid
that seek asylum in graves
Croque-Melpomene 