Smile

Bending double
Folded over myself
Aches my back
But it’s nothing
To the ache
You left in front of me

Physical pain
Simple and clean
Keep all the sharp objects
Away from me

Knife
Scalpel
Stiletto
Scimitar
Blade, blade, blade

Why some of them are even smiling
Once there were pictures on the news
Of a massacre
A young woman’s throat, cut
And her smaller, gentle smile above

By kayleigh parsons
For myself