your voice can’t save me

by Jaden G., 18

hold me instead.
let me sink in my sorrow.
keep my head above water 
where i can breathe.
beloved, you can’t stop me
from drowning by teaching me 
how to swim 
from the safety of the shore. 

you tugged on the thread 
of my secret
and unraveled it all.
it is sharp and thorny, 
cacophonous as it spills out.
i can tell you didn’t mean to
by the way you’ve frozen. 
its edge will slash 
through your soul 
if you dare move. 

tempests can’t conform 
to the structures of language.
words remain

just        

            out    

                    of      

                             reach

Fort Collins, Colorado