i’m masking

i’m masking
i’m asking you
to help me quiet
the voices inside my head
that tell me
that i can’t

this fear
this sphere
around me
is a poisonous cocoon
its safety comes
at the cost
of slow suffocation

a part apart
has come together
to gather
the pieces of my self
and leave me prone
alone
fragile
isolated
abandoned

until there is no more you
to pull me out of
this suffocating fear

03.22.22