hidden emotions inconveniently
emerge upon this heart’s sleeve
throbbing , beating, bleeding
dripping away in a red
fury until all that can be seen
is this spot of fever
almost ancient in disease
there’s no hiding the swell,
the absolute certainty
that overtakes all else,
until what remains is but a
vision, a version, of self
doused in emotion’s flame
set on devouring itself…
this public display, this shirtsleeve,
this pain that cannot be helped
it’s never ending, never quiet, never
lost … but lingers still sometimes
hidden , sometimes for the world
to see, red and raw and ready
to bleed