Suppose

Surprise surprise, what’s the price?

Suppose you lied, suppose the scars bring you pride because they display your fight against life

&,

since there’s no shadow without light, no death without life, you fought life & death & you survived.

Suppose, suppose you posed like

the question came as a surprise – why not try to act like you don’t know what made you strip naked & run screaming into the abandoned building licking flakes of old paint from walls bleeding cold skin: petals on the floor lost to rot decaying fray- ing & ignored, what does the paint taste like, why did you decide to stop when the dirt-black sky ran to hide from the bleeding sun that never dies?

Suppose, suppose you only wanted to try & fall

suppose that you never meant it at all.