You know that thing
where you’re a little proud of
some kind of an accomplishment
but it’s really a kinda small accomplishment
that if you tell anyone about it
you’re just opening yourself up
for humiliation
since it was the kind of thing
most people figured out
at around four years old?

Or maybe
there’s something that’s bothering you
a pretty petty thing, actually,
the kind of thing that
if you mention it to anyone,
anyone would just say
“why are you such an asshole?”
Like say
how annoyed you are at how much
your damn kids ask to be fed
and wouldn’t it be better
if you could just sew their damn lips shut?

So you keep your own damn lips shut
for fear of outing yourself
as the monster you really are
but you wonder if the silence,
the desire to keep it all in
and keep everyone else out
will just make your soul fester and boil over
with some toxic black tar
and you are practically ready to explode
smiting the neighbors’ dog
or anyone else choosing to make any sound whatsoever
anywhere on your plane of existence?

It’s
it’s that kind of a thing.