Complicated woman — a poem

And you speak,
And share,
And see
The fear this causes.

A glimpse of silver-clad vulnerability,
Presented from its diamond box
Is greedily snatched by
Magpie friends, who finally
Relate to a jewel of
Something remotely reflective
Of themselves.

But all you feel is yourself.
And the void widens.
And they cling to throwaway words
And use them as facts.
Take them as fullstops.
When they were simply dashes -
Assumptive punctuation.
Building nothing but illiterate connection.

It must be you,
It must be your reaction.
It must be fixable. Mountable.
A bear, not a wave. A tangible,
Tameable beast.

If you’re a tiger, not the hurricane.
When all you believe yourself to be,
Is something more elemental.

When I try to understand you,
And I’m met with fog
And a mountain far in the distance
That I can’t reach as my wings
They weren’t grown as yours were.
I have claws that dig
From my toes into the ground,
That keep me here.

So the peak becomes more obscured.
And I hope I’m forgotten,
I hope I’m ignored
Because the opposite is worse.
Hatred and rejection
From spine breaking apprehension
At the horrific person I am,
And the brilliance of your
Comparative blind spot.