A language exchange, terses verbal onslaught,

Translates

An uncomfortable description: “Read.” 

Curled toes bargain with the heartbeat, pace alone 

Comforts the options 

Diagnosed through an inquiry, anxiety insisted upon. 

Begins the comparison 

Against personal actions, to those performed

By others. 

‘If this meant that…’

‘I did this before…’

‘It must mean that…’

Infant interactions, defined as sloppy killers. 

After the blade oxifies, healing begins. 

In this Age of Commodification, 

Relationships are transactions

And ownership obliges control. 

Words come cheap

It’s the interpretations

Which bankrupt the soul.