Don't

don't you look at me like that
don't know with your eyes
things that words keep
pressed down so deep
dispersed
embittering the sap of every cell.

is the thread so taut
close between us
waxed harsh
like twisted button cord
that you can draw the lyric
of my look
envision its coarse grey pigment
with one glance
wrenched inward?

don't you score my script
with your truth
shape it
with your breath
parse interpret prose it
give it a name.

don't you steal my poem
don't you steal my pain.