Am I the Villain?

A Poem

Photo by Damir Babacic on Unsplash

don’t cross the lines —
that’s what they said,
and i tried to abide
by all the rules

but

it seems
i failed
miserably.

i wore the wrong clothes,
i told the truth too often,
and i loved all the people
who’d never stay.

maybe they wished
they could have stitched
my lips together
to keep me tame

or

perhaps they wanted
the perfect decoy
just so they could
hide their shadows.

i’ll never know the truth
because lies make the world
go ‘round and ‘round
in senseless patterns.

people will hurt you —
that’s what she taught me —
but she also always said
people show you who they are.

i looked for the signs,
i scoured the skies,
and i wished on
faraway stars —