Frog in My Throat

I try to talk but the words get stuck. Chest tight,

voice thin, heart loud. Feels like something's crawling upward. And I don't

know how to get it in. Every time I try to speak

my truth, it coils in my throat like a living bruise. You say talk

to me, but the moment I do, you twist my pain like it's

something new. You want respect you never earn, you want love you'll never return.

So I swallow down what burns. A frog croaking in a furnace and I choke

on everything I don't say. Poison rising in a silent wave. You ask why