Like it is nothing, my mouth moves to secede.

Breathe like a mountain caving in. Breathe

 

and pick apart my mirrored image,

the curve my teeth. Leave

 

behind my cracked ribs. Shut my eyes.

Leave behind my uneven breasts,

 

the knobs of my legs beyond the thighs,

the color of my lies in the toilet bowl.

 

I remember learning all the ways my body

was a death sentence. And it is.

 

In the morning, I pour last night’s coffee

into the sink. Drink another beer,

 

throw up clear water in the afternoon,

learn nothing. Nightly I am reborn, colder

 

in the same skin: the one

unholy thing I cannot let go.


Photo by Galaxies and Hurricanes