i learnt to be small inside
quick and sharp of tooth
to bite myself on command
and to be sly
safe in shadowed layers
draped dozens deep
the searching of which
gave time for escape
i built walls beneath my skin
that ricocheted barbs
through my soft internals
i learnt my place
in the slowly flaking false grandeur
of our home, rotten from the seed
i learnt to read, for which i'm grateful
and to write, for which you're probably not
