a poem under your skin

there is a poem in my sternum 
that won't shake loose, and 
its claws stick tight in my throat 
and i cannot breathe, i have never 
been able to breathe, i was born 
to drown. 

this poem is stuck behind my eyes 
throbbing with the force of 
saltwater and grief and 
the spiders skitter beneath 
my ribcage, asking to be 
free, what more can they want 
but to be free. 

i feel the poem in my teeth 
tongue licking red through 
my bitten lips and i have been told 
my whole life that anger is unseemly 
but this is more than that, this is 
rage 
sharp enough for any world 
and it's been a while 
since i've gotten to 
bite. 

a poem is cut into
the creases of my 
smile, and the bend 
in my bones, and cells 
no longer belonging 
to me, and
i am asking you
to cut me 
out.