you tried to be good again.
you shut up, let the nice girls
do their talking, then let them pull
and push and prod whenever they
wanted, you let them see the skin of your
teeth and they still didn’t want you.
but you’re their friend right?
they’ll take you to birthday getaways
and go to homecoming with you,
invite you to their homes but never
deign to come to yours.
you’ll celebrate them , tell them their
mistakes are not their flaws, but when
they see everything that you are and have
the potential to be they become threatened,
so they gang up on you like wolves, ready
to bite and tear, and shred, but not until
they stalk you through the brush
and tell you it’s all in your head.
but before they bite, you bare your teeth
and they all become afraid
because the last thing they expected to find
in the forest was a snake.
you were sweet, you were kind
you were love in a purple dress,
now you are venom, you are teeth
you are rope being tied around their neck
and they can run away, want or stalk you but
they all know that you’ve outgrown
this little life, the woods we live in,
the house you knew wasn’t home.