the sun splits the sky like a blistered wound
as your tired lips sag upon your sallow canvas-face
like a painting faded in the rain
former vibrancy smeared beneath your eyes
with the deceptions of your make-up bag

and a sleeping dragon curls within your stomach
with its claws maiming your innards
and its nostrils setting you aflame from inside
while taunting spiders begin their twisting dance upon your limbs
as a demon's sinuous-clawed finger etches into your skin
"never never"

you wear the scars like a consolation prize
as if they were a bar code upon your generic flesh
and you are broken nails and missed deadlines and fast food meals
as the words in your head are as large as billboards
but as small as the fine print you never read

the dragon awakens within your stomach
its roars echoing within your skull like a mad symphony
as you collapse and crumple like an unwanted love note
and the dragon rips through your flesh
hollowing you like a discarded cocoon
extinguishing the last of your once-burning passion

the tormenting spiders resume their spiraling dance
and with impassive resignation you extend your arm graciously
to the demon who indifferently tattoos
"forever"