fragile: please handle with care by Ash M (15, Canada)

in the hollow cradle of night
i sit, splintering on the living room floor
and pick apart my flesh with my teeth
begging you to glance my way

---

i will tear out my heart if need be
paint myself in rose and violet
to be just like how you envisioned
in the depths of a hazy ultrasound

the last time you held me like a child
did you know it was a distress call?
that the years had slithered up too fast
and plunged me in, face first, ice cold

maybe i should drench my insides
burn away all the residue
i'll teach myself to be loved again
the way that's meant for your little girl

but when i am finally in your grasp
i am a wretched thing, a distant embrace
you trace your fingers over the breakage
in my sun-peeled, once-porcelain skin

thinking if you had the chance you'd try
to press my broken pieces into journal pages
mend the ruptures in my body with yours
until all that is left is my own skin and bones

​