My Skin is Open // Red Raw.

My nails are hard

but my skin is open.

I scour my skin and drag my claws over its centimeters. 

My body pulls my fingers where it wants them to scrape 

And they move accordingly. 

I articulate all of the surface of my skin. 

My skin warms as it’s scraped – I ensure all corners are opened and warm. 

The water cools it down, 

It stings the soft gaping scratches, 

The lesions with their scabs torn off. 

I wash my body down all over. 

I cover all the scrapes with water, 

Absorbing layers and collecting in the tray at my feet. 

Wash, 

Cool, 

Then push every drop of water and skin back off my bones. 

I push all the water filled with

Skin cells,

Blood, 

Dirt from under my fingernails, 

Bacteria, 

Viscera, 

Back into the tray.