knife edge by helen lyon
a balancing act:
my secret life
lived upon the blade
of the sharpest knife
the blade was sharpened daily
and shone in every shadow
just to remind me plainly
that I was the prisoner. Barred
from all normality
desperate behind the façade
one false move
one tiny indication
of the smallest emotion
of my secret life
and my wounds
from the knife
would open wide
one tiny indication
of the smallest realization
that I was aware
of this secret life
the two of us shared
was enough for the knife
and for the wounds to reappear
I shall always live
with those wounds
from a life
lived upon the blade
of the sharpest knife
they will never be healed
till the secret is revealed
after the end of her life