Kaylee Savage-Wright

Damaged Goods- Lisa Nielsen

He insinuates himself into my breath,

ravaging my desire for freedom

Just to maintain takes every ounce of

sorrow,

is our newest game but only I seem to be playing

The longer I stay with him,

the more I forget what I know

The talisman of hope

I wear around my neck

is now a jaded sacrifice, a

pretty testimony to the power of illusion

or delusion, all I know is that I am here for the long haul.

There’s guilt by retaliation

[although he prefers redemption by guilt]

where digs are thrown

like darts

His heart holds rounds and rounds of arsenal, it’s

that cold dark place where nothing is better than being right and hitting your target,

and I am buffered in, the world outside

taped to my wall like a postcard from a faraway place

that I’ll never visit.