Athenaea - Fall 20121

Page 45

Excoriation Dermatillomania (n.): An obsessive-compulsive related disorder characterized by the repetitive picking at one’s own skin. I. Rip rip rip rip, Skin peeling off my flesh, Nails burrowing a trench Across my forehead, Jagged cuticles stripped, Bare and raw and bleeding. A limp in my step, A self made wound the culprit, Throbbing under my big toe, A hole gouged out where there should be tissue. I hobble instead of turn In my ballet class. A mirrored image, Distorted with red and pink And divots everywhere, The scabs and flakes in my hair Are far more noticeable than The tiny little bumps my fingers dug out. Graphite on lines, blood smearing my homework. Dirty snowfall, skin flakes littering my clothes. Rusty nail clippers, weapons marring my body. Hours spent picking, trances stealing my time.

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