Recede

I carry on my person
a cheese grater
at all times,
Just in case there's not enough
of me
to fill my outsides.
It's a comfort to know that as I recede
into a stagnant being,
I can shave away the wasted bits
that are hardly worth seeing.
As I dissolve into the air
I can shave my elbows
till they're red and bleeding
scrape the eczema off to gain some feeling in this shell,
in these limbs
they're receding.
Dead weights;
denatured skin cells.
 
I am too little to fill a cup
It can't be half empty of half full
- there's simply not enough
of me.
I take comfort as I recede
as I shrink into this carapace case
this suctioning shroud,
in that I'll always be ready
to be in a happy place
to sculpt my nose off of my face
 
Grind my feet to shavings - to stubs
because
as one recedes
one must always be ready
to emery board those fingernail nubs.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

inside we just keep shrinking sometimes...and we need to get rid of the useless skin, and negative baggage so that we can start to grow again.

i like the last two lines, a crisp ending.

[Fae]

Thanks for your review! :)