UNRAVEL ME

there are rope marks on my wrists, fat-bubbled flesh

an orion’s belt of satin scars from sorry slips 

wrinkles like creased cloth at the sunday dinner

that are hardly noticed among favoured faces

i collect secrets like copper coins and lately 

there are holes in the pockets of my jeans

and wine turns into water and turns my tongue 

into a slip-and-slide and i will tell you everything

if you so much as ask, i will unravel like ribbon

and maybe it’s because i am tied too tight or

bulging to the brim with baggage i must shed

or else, or else, or else!         i don’t really know but

i fear i may go insane again if i so much as feel 

and the doctor has started writing letters to me 

mother, i miss you but it seems i cannot see you 

maybe soon, i will be strong enough to come home