the least of these

I hadnt realized my skin was quite so fragile, to break and twist with just the mention of a word.  I had thought it was out of my system, I had bled it out of my visage with knives scattered over the floor to caress my feet.  Then it was brought up inadvertently, and a naga's coils wrapped around my heart and squeezed serenity to chaos.  I smiled with sequins in my eyes, teeth gritted into a heart-stop grin so  all that could be seen was perfection, not the tiny shards of papercut glass implanted in my bones. 

Theres nothing quite as irksome as knowing something wrong, but knowing its yourself thats wrong.  I've always been the poison, the acid leeching over your tongue, leaving burns too deep to heal without scaring. I've always been the hero, patching the wounded up so they cant feel the disintegration my fingers cause. 


But then, if we talk about what I've always been, I would say I've been a pet and a master, though I cant say of which I've preferred.  I would say I've been the princess who became a prince because I promised I would be able to protect the rest of the ones I loved.  I would say I've been in the rain and in the sunlight streaming past your sleeping eyes.  I would say I've been stars and planets, black holes and super novas.

And I would say I've been the strongest glacier, and  the smallest puddle...
The last of which, you never notice.