truth

it's strangling me

unruly garden

vines entangling

never knowing what will happen first-

if they'll start to spill

to sprout unbidden from between my teeth

and show themselves

or leave me a husk

empty

and i know

i can't live like this

but i can't say it either

i don't have the words

the right words

the ones that could make you understand

because i know the truth would kill me

just a little

in your eyes

a daughter vanished into nothing

and something undefined left in her place

and i'm not sure

you'd still care