With you, each word tasted of gunpowder, Conversation a wary march across A battlefield of unspoken fears. Raw emotion caged behind rib-bone bars, Lest it trip your hair-trigger defenses, Sending you scrambling for distant cover. No sanctuary worth these battered soles, Each interaction a minefield Where every heartbeat demands vigilance. Every breath holds hostage unsaid truths, And silence becomes our safest confessional In this terrain of fragile understanding. poetry