skin
is the largest organ of the human body
keeps out infection
the air and sun’s harmful rays
subject to pin-pricks, papercuts and politics
…sometimes I’m surprised
by the number of dark holes that have appeared
like memories upon my skin
not freckles, but moles
am I more fragile now or have I just lived enough years
to hold memory on this body
there is so much surface to cover, a canvas wide enough
to tell a lifetime upon it
the integumentary system contains layers
of overlapping cells
skin condemns the wearer
to all kinds of assumptions
it can be deadly, in the wrong place–cancer
isn’t the skin’s only danger
my mother complains about the spots appearing
now on the back of her hands, but
they remind me of her playing the piano
pushing a lawnmower
skins are what we build to hold
stories inside of them, and I want
to read what’s written across your shoulders
like Braille bumps to blind fingers, seeking…
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