charlatan

you will not fool
me this time
yes, I will

embrace you
rock you

in the arms of patience,

massage the bamboo
pricking, sticking,
up and down my legs;

I'll be brave enough to manipulate

the naked nerves
until each blistering
tendril calms,

no, I won't
be the bear caught
in a steel trap
chewing
off limbs, or the wolf
tangled in a wire snare
whining

they're the ones
who self-amputate
making way for escape.

instead

I will caress you

coddle you

cosset you

complacently,
hate you.