Controlled Demolition

You signed the waiver the minute you became a people pleaser...

A wicked game is afoot, your reflection is in on it too

Beholden to an audience of shareholders

It practices your smile

Behind your back

You won’t believe it either

But disbelief is an NDA,

your reflection has on you

Every coincidence is rehearsed

Places Everyone!

Every lover pre-approved,

their hands taught where to rest, gently cruel

Pssst...That’s not your lover, you’re their appointment,

A fuse has been lit,

quiet as the stagehands, nimble in the dark

They move the walls while you sleep

They paint exits you will never reach

You don’t see it. You don’t feel it

That’s the miracle they’re most proud of

Your blindness is an arrogance you’ll wear like it’s in fashion

Your choices are their agendas,

framed as good advice

Your failures are warning signs,

framed as your lack of commitment

Your reflection will gaslight you in the mirror

Tell you you’re alone

The boundary a restraining order,

that maintains separate roles

Who are you now? No one knows

How are you now—with no control?

And when it finally comes crumbling down,

after the fire walks the final threads

The charges bloom behind a smile,

They’ll call it fate. They’ll call it justice. They’ll call it karma.

They’ll call you unfit. They’ll call you a failure. They’ll call you inadequate.

They’ll hand you a lit match.

And point in judgement.