These veins wrap around my wrists.

I strain against them, but they tighten around me,

keeping me tethered to this beating heart.

At the sight of him, the heart beats against me

and I bruise with every beat.

His words slice at my skin,

leaving open gashes that sear as he speaks.

His glare pierces a hole straight through me,

like an insect feeding on a paper-thin leaf.

But insects move on, feed on an untarnished leaf.

Lucky the leaf, but not lucky is me.

He never moves on. Just keeps tarnishing me.