An Offering
by Jeslyn Olson
Clean hands
Tearing at vulnerable flesh
Ripping out the seams
Like an undersized shirt,
An offering cupped in stained hands
Held aloft–my life flows in rivulets of red
Streaming down shaking arms
Beating.
A beautifully vain sacrifice
Now a bloody useless muscle
Beating.
The gaping wound
Like an unhinged maw
It’s missing piece
Beating.
Manicured nails shredding precious tissue
Self-induced disembowelment
I thought nothing would be more painful
Yet
The world looks different on bended knee
My renounced offering
Beating.
My once consummate self
Ruined
Now a lifeless vessel.