tethered

i am in a constant state of reinvention. 

i think it's because he stole my identity. he scrubbed my brain squeaky clean and sick. he sucked out all my fat and filed my bones down into toothpicks.

i look in the mirror and there's a monster staring back. there's a monster that doesn't belong to me. so i grab the rusty kitchen scissors and start to cut him off.

i start with my hair. he liked it long. he liked it innocent. i cut it short and choppy. i won't be a kid for him anymore.

next, i trim my eyelashes. no more innocent doe eyes. i am intense. i am scary. i must keep my eyes open at all times from now on.

finally, i snip the puppet strings. my hands and wrists and arms. my legs and hips and vagina. my neck and mouth and mind. snip, snip, snip.

i collapse to the floor, untethered. unsupported. unstable. free.