Writing regularly really emphasizes
the way the inner voice likes to speak
looking back at the words it repeats
with such predictable frequency
Always and never, always and never
I feel these words ever present
on the tip of my tongue, on my fingertips
as I begin every new sentence
At first it just felt like lazy writing
repetitive words and phrases get dull
but it speaks to something much deeper
a glimpse into my tendency toward extremes
Universal qualifiers that diminish and shrink
the possibilities open to me within the
inner model of my cordoned off imagination
two big boxes where every experience is placed
Strong nails hammered into the coffin of my capabilities
trapping me inside absolutes that cut and categorize
the world down into just two categories
making everything ultimate and inescapable
I'll always be like this
I will never be enough
I've always been alone
things will never change
Definitive diatribes used to dismiss
any potential for nuance or transformation
immovable iron bars that lock me
inside my own limited perception
Untruths that feel so true
thoughts with the heavy weight of death knells
held so tightly inside my chest that
I didn't see them until now
Protect the Innocent 