Demon

There's a knife to my throat

Mine own hand

How did it come to this?

There are two people inside of me

One wants to live

The other is wracked with fear and guilt and shame

Tears dripping

Along the rust splattered belly of the blade

Iron oxide crystals

Dancing in little globes of liquid

They are my colors, they are my paints

Dip my brush and smear and dab

Upon the canvas of my shredded flesh

I refuse to mark myself in public

The way that others do

Rings of gold and inks on skin

It is the devil claiming you as his own

I haven't lost yet

I have not been claimed by my demons

There are two people inside of me

One wants to live

The other...

He grabs my hand...

When I try to reach out to a friend

He grabs my throat

When I try to speak my name

I CAST YOU OUT