“you’re perfect — you’re such an angel,” you say
as you dress me up in your beliefs
as you decorate me with your dreams
as I suffocate beneath your expectations of me
and I want to scream
“give me BACK”
give me back
my
dreams and opinions and plans -
“oh, but you’re such an angel!” you insist,
even as the bitterness inside me grows, twists,
evolves into an all-consuming, inextinguishable fire
hissing
give me back my life, give me back all the affection you
took from me -
“aren’t you such an angel?” you coo,
and I watch my reflection in the mirror
nod and smile.
You're Perfect
By Ashley Xu