Yes and No

The yellow t-shirt turning brown. As this armor petitions its shield. I feed the snake. Not because I am frightened of it. On the contrary, it's my pet.

The question never asks. It tells. Teeth marks on the floor where we bit too hard. Cloth on our lips. The purple look of time as it twists the blinds closed.

If the summer's long enough you never know where it starts. Or when it ends. It's just a car in a parking space. Engine always on. A flame as big as the lighter itself.

I listened so long I began to wonder if I could be heard at all. Had I a voice. Could it make sound. Had this language in my fingers been seized from my tongue.

I tried to catch his eyes as they danced around my stare. Deer in the woods running from the sound of snapping branches. I would've tried harder, but I've never enjoyed the hunt. No real satisfaction in taking something you'd hoped would be given. Hurts more than just letting it run.

We can't be anything we want. We can only be ourselves. Cope with what that means as it comes.