do you forget you have a heart, too by Ryan C Johnson

do you forget you have a heart, too

latch and leech your way

into lives, into fake happiness

into hearts and cling

there. like a gnat

resting on a brain

gnawing and buzzing

poking and prodding

like a spider without a web but

instead a laced framework of

friends forged by falsehoods and

wide grins.

people love you.

don’t they.

especially when you dig your dirty nails

into their chests so you can

get to the meat, the muscle and bone

and heart, so you can

hoard it for yourself as they

smile with their eyes and drip

slippery accolades.

hooray—I can’t feel a thing

what do you feel?

-- Ryan  C Johnson