quick

the scratches appear gradually.
thin and secretive in the folds of the limbs.
no one notices one more
and another,
growing quietly like so many little lies.
eventually,
the tears at the corners of the mouth will widen.
accommodating a new voice
as sweet as--(and this is a lie)

spending hours in my closet,

drowning everything in a white linen sea.
there is no escaping it.

some where down here between my knees

and the taste of every single one of my regrets,
you will forget how to be human.