peel (poem)

you asked me to peel myself apart
so i took the edge of my nail and pulled
slid back the skin you licked for softness and confirmed my own blood
slugging through my veins, embarrassed to have you looking 
arteries agitated by your gaze

how annoying to fountain my own blood for you
be pulsing dripping statue carved of clay marble disappointment 
the intricacies of my cellular pipeline are your garden’s treasure
the centerpiece in your suffering’s shrubbery maze

I have swallowed a hundred nails and spat out all corkscrews
you spoon fed them to me
wanted to taste my blood the way I tasted it 

when you were more wall than flesh
more broken glass hand holding than warm grass between toes
when all I wanted was the moon and the dark to agree with each other this time   
you gave me radio static, ringing

I am your window covering, now
curtains soft and jewel toned, still soft for your narcissistic licks
still sweet tasting blood-dye
keeping your heat in

your teeth are sharp for skinning me alive
taught strip tease showtime for the blue and red lights but instead of clothes

we shed skin 

if i’m bare enough they’ll see the person in me
see heart beating and remember what their own sounded like