Explosive Empathy

I am a ticking time bomb

With an unknown number

Let the countdown begin

I don’t let you in the minefield of my heart

Because those who are closest

Are the easiest targets for my path of rage

And I don’t want to lose you

To my own self destruction

For I rise from it every time

But others do not

And their silence is as deafening

As the chaos in my wake

I do not want the only remnant of you

To be the ringing in my ears

As I survey the debris and loss I have caused

While I stand alone and untouched

For my fire is not one that I can control

But it is mine to own and claim

And for that reason I cannot claim you as well

For I would rather you be a wandering soul, lost to me

Than a lover lost to the carnage of my tongue

And despite my longing for you to navigate

The eggshells of my personality

I regretfully

Tearfully

Let you go

you deserve better 

-j.p.