I broke the pattern.
Crackled curves down the
smooth surface I was trying
to preserve for you.

I tried so hard to keep the sidewalk
clean, shoving the banana peels and half-drunk coke cans
and crumpled cardboard into the streets that lined my veins.

But the pressure eventually built up
and the contents of my capillaries
exploded, sending the ugliness I was trying
to spare you from right into your lap.

Showing you the shameful truth.