I Know I'm Not The One You Wanted

A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal

You look so tired and unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us
I'll take a quiet life
A handshake of carbon monoxide

~No Surprises by Radiohead

I can hear you crying and
the tears tear strips of skin
off me.

slowly.

I know I'm not the one you wanted.
you could barely call us friends.
but what you don't know about me is
anytime i hear you cry
it tears strips off my skin.

it's worse to have the wrong friend call
than to have no one at all.

i'm the highlighter, leaving yellow markings
where the other spots show up blank.
didn't mean to pencil them in
so close that they tattoo your skin.
didn't mean to hurt you, darling.
didn't mean to cause you pain.

it's just
anytime i hear you cry
the skin peels off me
in strips
and i'm flayed alive.

i know i'm not the one you wanted.

i wish i was
for you
and maybe then i could fix the tears
and put you back together again.