Silver scales

The silver scales under my skin,
Pierce and puncture me,
The metal fibres that twist throughout my body,
Hold me rigid,
While the puppet-like strings keep me standing,
Flickering images of people once known,
Now lost
But captured forever,
Lay hidden in the case of my mind,
You’re the only light in this city of darkness,
Shielding me from all that poisons my soul,
The four walls that close in every time I shut my eyes
Only cease when you’re here,
As the metal enters my blood I see now,
How I need you,
The scales restrict me from saying to you
What I want,
Their my binding,
Can I never be free,
Free from all that haunts me in the darkness
That surrounds me each time you leave…