it was in a dream
when i saw him first
from afar he looked just like a man
but as you got closer it became clear he was not
his skin was dried wood
it was dark
his face splintered in places
he had no eyes
he had at the end of his long arms
only splintered wood
at first i just saw him
and i was scared
i surrounded myself with the people i loved most
with the people i trusted
and that's when he started running
at first i'd run too
but it wasn't me he chased
it was my family
my friends
and when he caught up
the way we'd try to fight him off
but there was no strangling
no stabbing
no bashing
the murder was over
as soon as he touched them
there wasn't a fight
there never was
the splinters from his arm
burrowed deep
inside of them
they twisted and tugged and pulled
and shredded them from the inside
one after another
night after night
it was a horror show
whether i was with them or not
until everyone i loved
was dead
and i
wanted to be
i still saw the wooden man
in the silence that came after
but not as often
it was only after i gave up
when i revoked my love from this world
when i stopped speaking
and there was no one else to take
that he decided to run again
but there was no chase
i sat there and stared
as he caressed his arm down mine
and i waited
for the splinters to burrow
they didn't
they multiplied
they spread
and it was there
watching my skin slowly turn to wood
it was only there
that i accepted
that the wooden man was me
even when it was over
even when i was unrecognizable
i denied it
i would never hurt
the people i loved
but i saw them in glimpses
as i searched for a recognizable feature in the mirror
and it never occurred to me
as i ran to them in relief
in search of a feeling i lost long ago
as i reached for a hand to hold
or a warm embrace
that what they were running from
what they were hurting from
was me
is me
