half woman/half girl

My tongue is bruised. Maybe I’ve bitten it too hard— swollen with things I never said.

Or maybe it’s bruised from saying too much.

Word vomiting my hangover from it; acid branding my throat “why was I never enough”

Hard pill to swallow, huh?

Too many “I love you’s” trapped in my tonsils- swollen, cherry red.

But these days I keep my mouth closed off. Yellow tape, salted cowhide, legs crossed, whiskey breath, double shot of misandry, and maybe I have been a victim of something…

Recently I’ve lost part of myself I’ve never once held;

I am only half woman, half girl.