thanatosis

thanatosis is when the dekay snake
plays dead
to evade a predator
its body goes stiff
in still coils
the predator is kept momentarily at bay

so i suppose my body went into thanatosis
when i felt your suffocating presence
corner me
I shut my eyes and willed myself to be anywhere,
anywhere else but here
i did not move a muscle,
i did not utter a word
i did not make a sound

later when i am binded in a pilling blanket
my mother will call me crying
asking me why I did not put a fight
thanatosis, i want to reply
but i remain silent

i do not move a muscle
i do not utter a word
i do not make a sound.

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