Who's Skin Is It Anyway? Poem by Leria Hawkins

Who's Skin Is It Anyway?
Date: April 20,2012

Who suggest you…shall I point to
When you've plugged into my dreams
To suck marrow straight from my bones
Leaving me dried and salted on the shore

And who carries the finger
For the thorny path of red-yellow memories
Where the treasure trove is looted
Bearing the calamity of soot and fool's gold

And when razors cut fresh gashes on my soul
Bleeding my heart in hollow whispers of night
Who bears the tongue, sharpened and cold
Laying steel across my soft professes of love

I need to know…whose skin is it anyway?
Who hides in shame the passion of a fire burning
And who, my love…siphons victories from midnight chatter
Tiptoeing through life for fear of discovery

Can you tell me? Who… my pet?
Who sullies those nights of sweet confection?
Who whispers insincere taunts and slurs of degradation
But returns to the till, time and again
To sample the burning thrill of denial

Who is it my love? I beg to know…
For it is surely not I!
I will not deny my heart's desires…I will not pretend!
As I know…'I' am the fire you crave! ! !

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Copyright © 2012 Leria Hawkins, All Rights Reserved