What Surviving is Like

Tap tap
Pull
Words made taught
Stretching hard
Like guitar strings
Like neck tendons
When you strain to see
Just what’s out of reach
You tighten just a little
Feel the burn of stretch
The scent of wretch
Unfortunate victim
In your catch
Tug tug
Pull
Peel off a layer
Rubbing between fingers
Like a two day old band aid
Like a three day old sunburn
When it’s peeling extra deep
And you seek that relief
You tweak just a little
Find pleasure in the pain
The scent of blood
Ill-fated waste of skin
In your hand
Check check
Pull
Screams frozen in time
Hand poised
Like a mannequin waiting
Like a patient grizzly, salivating
When it’s waiting
For its prey
You are the bones in my garden
Lazily fishing for my ghosts in the darkness
The scent of holes in my heart
Hapless at the start
In your arms
Click click
Pull
Guitar string breaks
Peeled skin burns
Screams wake up
Check check the mic
It’s on in time
For you to show me
How
To survive