13 lines

I will err on the side of caution, for
it is easier to be forgotten and lonely
than it is to be known and hated,
and I would rather have you look over
me, melt my skin into the colours of background
noise, than have you cut me into strips
of judged personhood.

And I would rather have you look the other
way than give me the time of day to point
out all my flaws and cracks - I know where
they are and why they have come to be -
I don't need you telling me
what I am, I know it quite perfectly.