#NaPoWriMo Day One

4am hurts like
blunted knives in your ribcage
cold fire in your veins
and crushed glass in your skin.

4am hurts like your ex.

Your heart and body aches
for reasons you don’t understand,
curled around yourself and convulsing
cursing and  breath,

Fists closed, arms crossed, jaw clenched
to protest and protect;
Every breath, every moment
feeling like hard time and hard labour.

Dull pain and panic burrow and settle
and scuttle and gnaw
like unwanted mice nestling
in your chest

Your body and soul is a punch bag
propped up against a worn out mattress
left out in the rain
ready for landfill.             

© Emilie C. Black, 2020