because sometimes it hurts too deep for red

it’s not a flame.
it’s a bruise.
deep purple.
ugly.
swollen with the kind of silence
you learn to carry
without limping.

don’t ask me where it hurts.
it’s everywhere.
but quiet.
like something rotting
beneath the skin
that still looks
“okay.”

i’m not okay.
i’m purple.

T.M.