scars, tissue by abigail chen | a poem of healing surfaced on aug 24, 2024.
you peeled my skin
from my flesh, my orthodoxy
from my blood, desire
giving birth
collapsing, i cried out
secrecy gagging harder
than you ever commanded
stealing innocence
i thought i blossomed
nightly, at your touch
shuddered from foreignness
blistered by newness, friction
i now know i wilted
a singed sacrifice at your
altar, idolatry reeks of
backhanded intimacy
i chose the needle
that left a scar, ink
blackened with precision
framing a miracle bloom
resilience you will
never kiss.