The Otherness of My Words

"Your words, not mine"-
you pushed the conversation towards me
holding the empty silence at your end.
"My Words!"
Ah, I see,
the ownership, the title deed - mine.
These words-
               mine?
               truly mine?
               mine alone?
Each syllable,
all the intonations
every meaning -
               ascribed or presumed, all mine?
My words
because,
              I rolled them on my tongue
              tasted the hurt in them
              gulped down the expectations they carried
              kissed them good luck,
              as they left my lips...
beacuse,
              they stood forlorn
              suspended in the otherness
              engulfing the small universe, mine.
My words
because,

            they could not breathe
            in the air heavy and pungent
            with the acrid odor of breathing ghosts.
My words, mine,
only mine
because,
I spoke them to dead ears and deaf eyes.