keep the salt between your teeth
under your tongue
don’t wash yourself of blood
let it dry and crack on your skin
sit bare in the red baked earth when the rains come

keep the chipping paint on your nails
when you want to lick your wounds, refrain
stare people down when they notice
dare them to say something
eat divine fruit with your unclean mouth

spit blood
make lovers kiss the scars on your knuckles
as if they were the rings of kings
don’t brush the gravel from your knees
let strangers see the bloodied mess
through the tears in your jeans

keep ink blotted receipts in your back pocket
loose change, bus tickets, old packs of gum
keep your ******* chin up
your mother used to say
‘you know a mans work by his hands’
leave dried blood under your nails so people will know
exactly the kind of work you do

pick fights with figures in alleyways
if it’s too dark to see aim for the glint of their teeth
in the streetlights phosphorescent glow
know their hands cannot hurt you the way she did
grin when they try their damnedest anyway

scratch your cheeks until you don’t need rouge
blacken your other eye just so you match
watch the water turn pink when you spit into the sink
apply ice where it’s needed
chew blue-raspberry liquorice till your lips change colour

cut off the third finger from your thumb on your left hand
dare someone to speak of matrimony now
sit up on the altar and eat pomegranate seeds
think of persephone kissing hades with her red mouth
leave the empty carcass of the fruit in the pews
step out into the night

skip stones across rivers
dig your fingers into the wet dirt
press yourself face first into the fresh snow
the only thing that can cleanse you now is the earth
so wash your hands off in the stream
grip rocks and lean out over the precipice
stand in the tide of the sea
you’ll never be pretty
but at least now you’ll be clean.