No Different Than the Last

My body is a museum for your eyes to explore

and there was a time I thought you might open the doors

and walk down the hallway.

Turn on the lights and dust off the shelves

I thought you might stick around to see

the show

when strangers dress up and use my limbs

to dance around in bright colored dresses

each move a part of me I had concealed

from prying eyes that only wanted the free show

only wanted to see the way my body twists

hear the screams my throat can create

I thought you were different.

There is a shame in the way I opened myself

to you and only you

A shame in the way I trusted your words

trusted you when you told me you would not break the artifacts displayed here

Now I must board up my windows

close and lock the doors

throwing away the key

so that no man may tread through these pathways again

so that no man may dare try and break these precious things I guard

again.

You thought you had ruined me for good

but what you don’t know is

you never had that power.

 

-CM