Tightly Wound, prose poetry by Joan Leotta at Spillwords.com
Noah Buscher

Tightly Wound

Tightly Wound

written by: Joan Leotta

@joanleottawrite

 

Whenever I object to something or start to cry, you say I’m wound one turn too tight.
Then the volume of our conversation rises until it is loud enough to become a true fight. You always win. You continue the argument, get even louder, use words as weapons.

I always apologize, my humble words become a softening blanket on your flames of ire. My own feelings are suppressed, suffocated by tears. I become powerless to move, to think about moving. One morning, I looked in the mirror and saw your hand-wound tightly around my waist—in a seeming embrace, making up for the anger. My ribs had no room to give my lungs space to breathe.

Tomorrow, as soon as you leave, I plan to go so far that your hands can no longer grip me. Then I will be free. And looser. No longer wound too tight.

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