twenty-two

hi.
i'm china.
i have a huge-ass fucking wall
all the way around
and nobody gets to come inside
except me.

there are troops stationed
at every post
waiting for you to try and enter
they'll shoot you
right in the knee, where it hurts
and you won't die,
you'll just lay there
bleeding

and i'll laugh
in my
big
lonely
palace
all by myself.

because companionship
does not happen in china.

when no one knows you
they don't know how to hurt you
when no one calls
they can't hang up
and when no one cares
i don't have to, either.