Expose

I do not wear my emotions on my sleeve
they are etched into my skin
tattooed and burned into sallow flesh
in love, and pain, and sorrow
we are the damned and doomed
we unrequited lovers
we cheated hearts
we are not birdsong on a summer’s morn
we are screams into unrelenting night
this is a compound fracture
this is a third-degree burn
these are the limbs I saw unattached and bleeding
from bloodied stumps and scorched ends
of too-damaged bodies and souls
this is the poet’s expose
of your loveless soul