Velvet Venom

I learned to speak in lower tones

Smile when I’m underestimated

You read my silence like it’s weakness

That was your first mistake, babe

I move like sugar in your hands

Slow, sweet, hard to read

You never saw the storm beneath

You never asked what lives in me

I don’t raise my voice

I raise the stakes

You play with fire

I let it wait

I wear velvet on my skin

But there’s venom in my kiss

I don’t need to bare my teeth

To leave a scar you won’t forget

You thought soft meant safe, didn’t you?

Thought I’d bend, I’d break, I’d miss

I stay quiet when I win

I wear velvet—but I’m venom

I let you think you had the lead

While I memorized your tells

Every promise that you broke

I kept like ammo on my shelf

I don’t chase, I don’t confess

I let absence do the work

You don’t hear me when I leave

That’s the part that really hurts

I don’t need revenge

I need release

And watching you unravel

Feels like peace

I wear velvet on my skin

But there’s venom in my kiss

I don’t need to bare my teeth

To leave a scar you won’t forget

You thought soft meant safe, didn’t you?

Thought I’d bend, I’d break, I’d miss

I stay quiet when I win

I wear velvet—but I’m venom

I was never what you owned

I was choosing to be kind

Now you taste the truth alone

Every time you say my name at night

You wanted fire dressed as lace

Now you’re burned by something calm

I don’t haunt you—I replace

Everything you thought you’d won

I wear velvet on my skin

But there’s venom in my kiss

I don’t scream, I don’t explain

I just disappear like this

You thought soft meant safe, didn’t you?

Now you’re learning what I meant

I don’t bleed, I don’t forgive

I wear velvet—but I’m venom

Smile sweet.

Walk slow.

You never see the blade below