"are you afraid of your own reflection, scaredy cat?"
yes, i am. it whispers my failures and the back-stabbings that are bound to happen to me. i can't wash my face with sink water for fear that it's watching me. its filmy eyes stare absentmindedly whenever i look up, but when i lower my head i can feel its gaze burning holes into my back.
it likes to twist a knife at the base of my neck, spinning it round and round till there's a circular wound in my flesh. if i cry out from pain when i look up, it sticks the blade down my throat and then i'm choking on bloody words. and i don't know which is worse - staying silent or suffering the consequences.
if i stare at the mirror for too long, my reflection's mouth curves into a cheshire smile and i think everything will be okay. it uses the same knife as a toothpick before taking it to the flesh on its own cheeks. then i squint and the bathroom lights flicker and i'm seeing a chelsea smile still dripping with blood.
one of its fingers trails along its mouth, as if to say "shhh." dried blood is caked into its nail beds, and its scathed hands reach up to its face. it pulls at its fragile skin until its peeling off. it digs its mangled fingertips into its sockets and pulls on its eyes till they snap loose.
"what are you so afraid of, scaredy cat?"
YOU ARE READING
lemon lavender & long nights
Poetryyou're lemon lavender and long nights [when the scent of lemon lavender was all that filled my head while talking to you those long summer nights] ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ COLLECTION NO.3 #38 in poetry © wraiths™ 2015-2016
