Artificial Animal

You’re a gremlin, a monster

ugly and rotting

a slick, small thing of shadow and filth

but only when you’re alone

-

When you step beyond your door

you change

You become something safer

something sweet

something the world can bear to look at

and desire

-

Your eyes grow wide and bright

lashes stretch, cheeks flush

lips grow larger, teeth uniform

You pluck the wild from your brows and scrub the pores away

-

And still, beneath the powder

you feel time’s slow hunger

the sag, the grey, the lines

as if the world’s weight is a thumb

pressing its print into your face

-

You freeze yourself

pour in the poison

tell yourself the pain is worth it

teach your body not to feel

not to spot, not to stain

-

No one must see

the creature in the quiet

the one who eats and sleeps

weeps and bleeds

-

This is the truth you keep hidden

You are a living, breathing animal

that wants, above all else

to be left wild