Word of the Day: Energy

They said I had a spiky heart,
An energy that punctured sharp —
Of prickly thorns and bristled spines,
Of wire barbed and poisoned vines.

For this I still apologise —
A fiend I seemed in others' eyes.
          The Demons of my childhood
          Too soon had robbed me of my Good.

I'm sorry for the pain I caused
With cutting skin and shutting doors.
I'm sorry for the backs I stabbed
On all the Manic Days I had.

I'm sorry that I killed someone.
          I can't undo — what's done is done.
I'm sorry that I cut their life —
I'm sorrier that life was mine.

_____

This poem follows the syllable scheme of the Vietnamese thơ bát ngôn, where each line has eight syllables.