imagine a bubble

 the things you learn in therapy.

imagine a bubble

make it shiny / colourful / holographic /

yours. 

it envelops you — keeps you safe,

keeps you protected. 

mine is yellow. mine is small. but my bubble has

space enough for two. 

except, it’s just me. me

and my yellow bubble. 

imagine them / her / him. 

they sit outside your bubble —

trapped on the other side with

no easy way of getting in. 

mine is him. mine is near. my bubble

has space enough for two.

except it’s just me. me

and my yellow bubble

and him sitting on the outskirts. 

imagine hooks.

they embed into your skin. your stomach. 

big hooks / deep hooks /

hooks that gash / hooks that pull. 

attached to them are ropes. 

mine is my belly. his are his belly. my bubble has

space enough for two. 

except it’s just me. me

and my yellow bubble

and him sitting on the outskirts,

both of us attached by scarring hooks. 

imagine a glow. 

a warm glow / soft glow / 

far-reaching glow. it bursts

out of chests like the sun itself,

touching only those that you let be in it. 

mine is bright. his is bright. my bubble has

space enough for two. 

except it’s just me. me 

and my yellow bubble

and him sitting on the outskirts,

both of us attached by scarring hooks —

both of us shining onto each other. 

now imagine taking the hooks out. 

wait, what?

reach over to him and take the hooks out. 

but i don’t want to. 

reach over to him and take the hooks out. 

i reach over to him and take the hooks out. 

take yours out, too. 

my hands instinctively move to my abdomen. 

i can feel the rusted metal / the hot blood / the scabbing. 

i pull the hooks loose. 

notice how the glowing is still there? that never leaves. not ever. 

mine is bright. his is bright. my bubble has

space enough for two. 

except it’s just me. me 

and my yellow bubble

and him sitting on the outskirts,

both of us unhooked — 

both of us shining onto each other. 

and then i imagine him disintegrating, 

returning him to the stars where

he belongs. a constellation decorating

the skies of days gone by like the

scars which speckle my skin.