Inside me someone is screaming
and I can feel her pinch my throat
into pieces, sewing the screams into my voice.
She's waiting to come out,
to start the breakdown slow
with whines and gasping breath
until she crescendos into sobs.
Or, maybe worse, pull me apart all at once
in public at work at the grocery store
where I am seen and heard and exposed.
So I don't open my mouth
because then I'll be upside down
and she will be right side up.