introspect on guilt
Inside and outside no way around it
No roof to jump from or basement to bury in
Here in my body there is no light my skin
Determines how my cuticles keep my nails in
And my lids have their eyes and gums to the teeth.
I tore myself open at the café today
My womb sent a shiver that possessed me
To grab onto something and my hands shot out my
Stomach and tore up straight up the middle
Like a zipper and gasped at the air stinging and
The light shone in it shone right in my insides
And it slapped those stone cold hands to both edges of
My open wound open stomach wound and tore the skin
Around behind my back and touched the flaps
Together there on the other side and touched them their
Together and kept my stomach there and I
Was hard on the inside I was all hard parts with
A mouth of gums and finger tips to feel with finger tips that
Went all around the finger finger tips
That felt everything and knew each
Inch of my bone woven body.
And this is what I do I armadillo I am a girl who
Walks around walks away walks into traps and out of
Rooms walks the streets or walks upstairs with you
And this is what I do when I am soft I am
Soft on the outside I am eyes like warm
Bread and skin like pudding
And I am hard inside I am hardened I am hard I have
Petrified I have turned to statue in the inside is a
Statue of myself in another time long ago stuck
There like that hardened in that moment and
On the outside I walk softly softly cross the street softly flowing
Like a new stream finding its way up the stairs
Pooling on your bed and you splash around and
You drink from me.
And this is what I do I’m an armadillo I do that
All of that I just told you I
Do all that and then I collapse inside
My stomach flexes in fits
I wince make sighs aloud and cracks begin
To form and like an egg those things those
Moments of my past which have turned hard
Break out and tear out all around my
Soft body and pull me in pull me in all
Bread and pudding and I turn hard inside
My old skin is shed my new coat is cast
And I walk around walk away walk into traps and out of
Rooms walk the streets or walk upstairs with you
And this is what I do I am so soft.
I am soft. I am
Soft as stones can be.
No roof to jump from or basement to bury in
Here in my body there is no light my skin
Determines how my cuticles keep my nails in
And my lids have their eyes and gums to the teeth.
I tore myself open at the café today
My womb sent a shiver that possessed me
To grab onto something and my hands shot out my
Stomach and tore up straight up the middle
Like a zipper and gasped at the air stinging and
The light shone in it shone right in my insides
And it slapped those stone cold hands to both edges of
My open wound open stomach wound and tore the skin
Around behind my back and touched the flaps
Together there on the other side and touched them their
Together and kept my stomach there and I
Was hard on the inside I was all hard parts with
A mouth of gums and finger tips to feel with finger tips that
Went all around the finger finger tips
That felt everything and knew each
Inch of my bone woven body.
And this is what I do I armadillo I am a girl who
Walks around walks away walks into traps and out of
Rooms walks the streets or walks upstairs with you
And this is what I do when I am soft I am
Soft on the outside I am eyes like warm
Bread and skin like pudding
And I am hard inside I am hardened I am hard I have
Petrified I have turned to statue in the inside is a
Statue of myself in another time long ago stuck
There like that hardened in that moment and
On the outside I walk softly softly cross the street softly flowing
Like a new stream finding its way up the stairs
Pooling on your bed and you splash around and
You drink from me.
And this is what I do I’m an armadillo I do that
All of that I just told you I
Do all that and then I collapse inside
My stomach flexes in fits
I wince make sighs aloud and cracks begin
To form and like an egg those things those
Moments of my past which have turned hard
Break out and tear out all around my
Soft body and pull me in pull me in all
Bread and pudding and I turn hard inside
My old skin is shed my new coat is cast
And I walk around walk away walk into traps and out of
Rooms walk the streets or walk upstairs with you
And this is what I do I am so soft.
I am soft. I am
Soft as stones can be.