I have turned my hurt
Into a melody,
grew roses
to match
bruised wrists
Never settled for
A paper-cut heartbreak
Used my blood
As ink
Turned my temporary hurt
into an identity
One I can not lose
So when it’s skin
Itches and tears apart
I shrink myself
smaller, so it can stay,
rip the bandages
off dried wounds
It has been far too long
But I can not let go
Beneath this skin
lies the unknown,
the one I fear most
So I must settle
for a lifetime
of suffocation
Or else I would shrink
Until I am so small that this skin
has nothing to hold onto.