I WEAR LONG SLEEVES EVEN IN SUMMER

Blue bruises
bloom on my skin.

I wear long sleeves
even in summer.

The memory of his flashing fists.
Even the memory hurts.

First, I lost
my smile

it somehow
floated away.

( Blue bruises
bloom on my skin. )

Next, I lost
my flesh

until I was nothing
but skin and bone.

My curves...my *******
vanished into themselves.

"All...something...is...grass!"
I quoted to myself.

( I wear long sleeves
even in summer. )

The woman in the mirror
who claims she's me

isn't
...isn't!

A stranger holds
my eye.

I...I
look away.

Blue bruises
bloom on my skin.

I wear long sleeves
even in summer.