A little dot of red appears on my cheek.

soon it is joined by others,

they grow from the scratch.

I watch as each one slowly becomes a bead

of rich red color.

They are so close together, that many merge

and become larger, heavy

to heavy to stay on my cheek.

I watch my face in the mirror as one by one

they roll down my cheek, leaving a stain

they reach the bottom of my cheek

and hang there for just a moment

before dropping to the carpet.

Joining old rust-colored dots decorating the white carpet.

A testimony to the pain hidden deep inside my soul.