My Hoodie

My hoodie is more than clothing

You see, to me it is a suit of armor

Deflecting arrows and swinging swords

And piercing eyes that scrutinize

Because today I'm feeling weak inside

If I don't hide from the people outside

They will turn into animals and try

To take a bite out of me

My hoodie is comfortable, warm

The next best thing to a lover's arms

A naked embrace against a kind face

So I remain encased knowing well

That I dwell in this shell

Of second place

My hoodie is black

Because black does not reflect

And I refuse to mirror anyone

Because black blends into anywhere

And I'll not be singled out

By the light of any sun

When my hood is up, its shadow

Paints my face from the nose up

To close up the skin that my

Beard doesn't cover

I am always wearing a mask

On days when the light is loud

And my head is a crowd

I sink into my shroud, lie down

Create my own darkness

Like an inverted God

Wishing I was water instead of meat

So the heat of my beating heart

Would just evaporate me

But I am safe

My pockets are empty

No Colt .45 to turn my living room wall

Into an abstract painting made

With the medium of my brains

No razor blades to dissect my wrists

Following some Suicide diagram

Drawn in blood by a mad scientist

Not unlike the one who undoubtedly

Stitched my monstrous body together

No bottles of pills, quiet kills

Just a perfect dark

The void within the cotton is colored

Pitch like the sharpie marker

I used to scribble on the inner cover

Of an old sketchbook the words

"I always kissed you with my hood down

But if I ever see you again

I will put it up"

I dread the summer