exposed

sheets of glass
encase my ankles
and they cut
ever.so.deeply
I am a
meek child,
burn holed,
cigarette tongued,
decaying rot
am I beautiful enough for you?
inside the worm hole
of your pudgy little heart

I find I can be
myself
by tearing at
myself
by skinning
myself
before your closed eyelids
I,
myself--
am naked
a bitter
cold
fluid flood
muscles writhe underneath blood.and.vein.and.white fatty tissue am I stripped enough for you?

---

words: April Michelle Bratten, North Dakota (Up the Staircase)
("exposed" first appeared in Kill Poet)