Mummification (We Only Play Dead When Oppressed)

I wanted to tell you

all the things that I didn’t like

because you weren’t listening then.

But there are no words

between us now.

Nothing but empty space and foreign ash

press soft kisses between our lips —

Strangers on trains holding no funerals

for deceased intimacies.

I wanted to tell you

all the things I didn’t like

to stand up for myself,

but I never had the chance.

Blocked dams and burned bridges

prevent us.

I should have professed that

I was a woman not made

to be writhing like a snake in suffocation

while trying to shed ancient skin.

And although these days,

I speak your injustices to northern winds,

I will show up for me

by telling him,

by telling them,

by telling anyone

what I don’t like

hereafter.