The difference between you and me

Self-generated in summer 2023

The difference between you and me is

My darkness cloaks

with an RBF mask and barely-there dress

smothering every word

in bitterness and negativity and sarcasm

bluntly ridiculing friends and strangers alike.

My darkness is a shield

personifying a foul-mouthed, and

as some say, stone-cold

bitch unfazed by the world

but merely protecting,

as you poeticized,

a soft peach,

sensitive and gentle and sweet.

My darkness conceals my light;

Your light conceals your darkness.

Your darkness lurks

beneath goofy grins,

blue-hazel eyes,

and endearing self-deprecation

all while loosely coiling your heart and tickling your mind

awaiting anger

at yourself, or others, or the world

or worse, intoxication

to ooze into your veins and burst from your mouth

in obsidian smoky tendrils

hoping to harm anything in sight. 

Your darkness is a sword

forged from innate selfishness,

learned cowardice, and unresolved

trauma, sometimes drawn in defense 

but often unsheathed unprovoked

cutting those who love you most

who had never conceived to cut you.