razor sharp edges
slashed open
scar like the coastline of california
tattered shreds of skin
in the region where the heart beats
slip a knife right here, right here
you won’t feel a goddamn thing

mashed and oozing
everything crushed and crumpled
mixed and rearranged
the music of metal upon metal
the screeching and then the burning
explosive symphony of shattered glass
the bending of steel
eyes wide open
gashed and bloody windows to the soul

do you feel me tremble?
numb and cold
stomach churning
sewing it all up like some dirty rag
i picked off the street
sopped with blood
garish red, like the lipstick on a whore

the wound will never heal

in and out, like so much refuse
worlds end in this sterile, tiny room
i am atropos, snipping the fine polymer threads
tossing it all into the red bag with the biohazard markings
warning: contaminated

it is an illusion really
to think that the blood doesn’t touch you
that the screams don’t pierce your heart
death is never easy
whether it is the death rattle of the man in the car crash
or whether it is evaporation of your own immortal soul