my body shivers as i curl up next to her. we whisper and cry as she claws through my hair—this is our nightly ritual.
i am crawling into the shell of myself. i am allowed to be held here. i am safe now but there is still creaking from this bed and dandruff under her fingernails and my dog is barking at the wall that i will not knock down.
here i have learned what it is to be a woman—
to give everything save for the bones in your body so that your love can mean something. to look unto her, that beautiful woman who hates herself, and only see your own outline.