Before you disappeared

I thought you were
getting smarter
but you were just making room
in your head
for the voices.
You weren’t scared
you said
just private:
sometimes
it was tedious
to always
be host.
But I could see
they were there
to stay:
they colonized
your mind
took over
ate you
up.
Right before you
disappeared
you made me
cake
it wasn’t my birthday
but you covered
it in candles
like pins on a map
and I blew them out
and wished
you would stay whole
but by the time
we’d finished
a hundred of you
were angry
and scavenging
for crumbs.