petals

you look me in the eyes
and ask, “what’s eating you?”
i could talk
about his ceaseless nagging
i could tell
about her wrapping
in a cocoon
of depression
i could speak
about a child
marked
her youth wasted
in the grasp
of a paedophile
“nothing,”
i say instead,
“it’s just…
i’ve seen a caterpillar
devouring the petals
of my favourite flowers”