The Weight of My Tongue

there’s a storm that lives right behind my teeth

not loud, not always but it waits

i try to hush it with tea and silence with books and breathing but it don’t always listen

sometimes it slips a word too sharp a joke that cuts a truth i should’ve swallowed

and then— your face changes like i broke something i didn’t even know was fragile

i say “i didn’t mean it” but it’s too late the air’s already heavy and your eyes already distant

so i sit with it the guilt, the ache like a stone in my gut rolling around making me sick

i wish i could rewind or maybe just be better at shutting up

but the truth is my tongue’s got a mind of its own and sometimes it speaks before my heart does

and i’m sorry for every time it didn’t speak love when it should’ve