Un-knit the names and colours tied upon the fabric
Erase the tattoos
Let the colours on the painting bleed
Throw out all the words that have ever been used to describe you
by people who mattered or didnt

clever
pretty
sexy
writer
teacher
cheat
cruel
heartless
careless
bitch
crazy
insincere
weird

the skin of the approval or disapproval of other people
that you kept trying to fit into
stretching and pulling and shrinking
and now you find yourself
peering outwards
Glad-wrapped twisted shins snapped shut against the world
i can't stretch my arms
i have trouble telling the
shape of my own heart from the
mould i've put myself into.

now,
if we removed all that
remove the glory but
also the 'humility'
remove the self-righteousness
remove God
remove love
remove purpose
remove the very last bit of thing that you thought would save your life and make it worthwhile.
strip it clean. strip it dry.
tear it like you would separate your brain, from the singular strains of your heart muscles and each nerve, from layer of skin to layer of skin.

what do you have.

that is all we ever have.