I don’t want your heart on a platter,
Beating and shivering in clotted blood
Fresh from your chest, broken open
I never asked you to do this
I am no damsel and you no prince,
We were never on the same page
Did you even think to ask?
I don’t want you to gut yourself
Over me, I don’t want your pain
Don’t rhapsodise over me, I am no goddess,
I never demanded your sacrifice
Are you listening to me?
But all my unspoken words, the residue
Of everything I wished to say to you
Unleashed now and I am a storm
I’m wailing now, caterwauling,
I am not your plaything
Whipping your ears, buffeting you back
Maybe now you will be forced
To listen
The tremendous force My pent-up frustration, consternation I am erupting now, my molten words Melt your tender flesh, sear your bones I don’t want you and I never will Underfoot, the ground groans and splits, Swallows you up into the deep earth A stalagmite prison
And still the storm carries on The primal roar I DON’T LOVE YOU AND I NEVER WILL
Stephanie’s work has appeared in the Epilogue edition of WORDLY Magazine.