I ignored it. 

I snapped it shut in the spines of swollen notebooks,

I tried to smother it under gas pedals,

I flung it down the stairs hoping it’d break it’s neck.

I held my head underwater in the tub but it

Bubbled, snarling to break the smooth surface,

And I cracked it between my teeth and knuckles,

Splintering like shells, or nuts, or chicken bones

I laid flat on my back and tried to press it into

The ground, but it flew from the curves in my back and neck

I wrung my hands dry hoping it’d drip from them.

I even tried to swallow it a few times, pinching my nose. 

Sometimes pain needs to be recognized.