you’re not going to tell me the truth because it might hurt me

(these things often do)

The fact that I choose to be

vulnerable

to be naked

out of my mind

out of my skin

The fact that I choose to be

brazen enough

to pretend that it is anything else but this

embarrassing intimacy

passing between us

under the guise of cool glances

it is you who hold the power

the reins stretched out across the stadium between us

I have spent so much time trying to find a way

to cut them