Witness

Your teeth bared
behind angry lips
chewed up the silence
I tried to escape into

your words kept coming
at me like bullets
from your gun-mouth
piercing my skin

Your eyes throw
daggers of fire
that follow the bullets
to my heart

I close my eyes so
I won't see
that much hate
from the one I love

I am not the one
who is looking

from behind the door
a small blonde head
eyes full of fear
hands clenched in fists

How do I explain
the hurtful words we
throw at each other?

I need to hug
the small scared boy
who doesn't understand

that sometimes we hurt
most, those we love
the most
because we can

we have all the
right weapons
we know how to
push the buttons

we supply our
own ammo from
years of intimacy

in that moment
I hate that we do
this to each other

not because of
what was said
or the look
in your eyes

because of the
look
in his