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Walking Raw

Do you know how painful it is

to turn oneself back right-side out

after being inside-out for so long?

Rawness still bleeds

beneath the scabbed, but unhealed wounds

from decades past

And the process of cleansing

before stretching the skin out

taking it off

turning it back right-side out

putting it back on

and closing it up

-Burns!-

and

-Stings like Hell!-

and

-Makes me want to scream!-

Harder still,

When there is no anesthesia

And I am doing the work on myself.

Sometimes,

my pain threshold reaches the point

I think I’d rather pass out

for just a brief moment

          of respite,

                   to breathe.

But every breath comes painfully,

without any skin on.

©drc 2009