I felt the tension so vividly in this, Em. What builds up in us when we have those emotions that seem to overflow us. The meaning of "control" here meant many things to me. Whether we try to aim for control, though it's a false sense, and bottle everything up so we don't hurt others, even if we speak the truth... or the ways we try to limit our self-expression because no matter if we speak too little or too much, it will be misinterpreted, not appreciated. It struck me as a moment of not being able to win or lose. There's an anger and bitterness in this that can't be reached. Like even if someone has good intentions and a good heart, a part of us is still on guard, unwilling to relinquish that control and share the bits and pieces of ourselves. It's a whole cacophony of not feeling good enough coming from within, and from others who might have said that to us in our past.

Powerful acrostic as always <3