My eyes are puffy,
my heart is swollen
and beneath my skin
mild creatures roam.
Mild because they are small
with tiny fists and feet,
appearing harmless.
Harmless until they take
up residency in the dark,
at the ends of my bones,
between each muscle and nerve
and they dance – Bacchic-like
within the shrinking forest
of my body to the beating of drums,
the thrum of my pulse,
as they wait and wait
to tear me apart.
Poem: © Kristiana Reed 2019
Image by Mila Kusmenko from Pixabay
