fit in here, in my palm, in my shadow, don’t be
bigger than my idea of you, don’t be more beautiful than i
can accept,
don’t be more human than i am willing to allow you to be and be quiet,
you’re too loud, even your un-belonging is loud. quiet
your dreams, your voice, your hair, quiet your skin, quiet your
displacement, quiet your longing, your color, quiet your walk,
your eyes. who said you could look at me like that? who said you
could exist without permission? why are you even
here? why aren’t you shrinking? i think of you
often. you vibrate. you walk into a room and the temperature
changes. i lean in and almost recognize you as human. but, no.
we can’t have
that.
