Theme Five

                                Rot

I.
.
I feel strange today.
.
Needles have crammed themselves under my fingernails,
Digging at nerves.
.
My head is in the clouds, I feel light,
but I find the sun is much too bright for my tastes.
.
I feel something growing inside.
Its dark, and it sleeps.
.
.
.
II.
.
I am convinced
That someone is trying to
Pry open
every
pore
in
my
body.
.
.
My skin itches
And I feel parasitic roaches clambering up my arched back,
Their little talons ripping through tissue and beating out a tattoo on bone,
Feeding from spinal fluid.
.
What's wrong with me?
.
.
.
III.
.
I saw a star explode today.
.
It was the most painful experience.
                                                                   Red.
                                                   Gold.                                  White.
                                                                                Green.
Erupting behind closed lids
And rattling through my skull.
It set me off balance
And sent me stumbling for the restroom,
heaving on an empty stomach
.
No medicine seems to work.
.
.
.
IV.
.
Snakes of red have found homage in my eyes.
.
My skin has blotched pink
and my fever sky-rocketed
to extreme levels.
.
.
Oh, my heart hurts.
.
.
.
V.
.
I can't see.
.
At first it set me to panic,
But now I kind of like it.
.
Vessels have burst open,
My eyes bled red
There is no white.
.
Mother has been shouting delusions today;
.
She says I have been marked by the Devil himself.
I just laughed at her.
.
At least I 'm not the one with demonic horns perched
On my brow like sick Christmas ornaments.
.
Silly demon mother,
All I have are these
Pretty-little-symbols lining my pretty-yellow-skin.
(You're just jealous.)
.
.
.
VI.
.
Daddy died six times today.
In six different ways.
.
I found it funny,
But he kept comin' back.
.
Lyrical voices echoed in my head
The whole time.
At least they laughed with me.
.
.
Mother just tried to feed me soup.
.
It scorched my tongue out from between my lips.
.
So I dumped it on her face.
.
It was rather amusing to watch
The skin peel away from the bone.
She screamed so loud.
                                     Such a happy sound.
.
.
.
VII.
.
My pretty yellow skin turned
a sickly gray today.
But my new friends told me it was
Even prettier.
.
Only I can hear their praises.
.
.
Ruby red blood burst from my lips just now,
Splashing on the pristine white floors
In such a stark contrast.
                                        Such pretty, pretty colors.
.
.
My stomach will eventually explode.
I think it will be a beautiful display.
(I can't wait to see it.)
.
.
My veins have grown.
.
I love to play games with them,
Prying back my leathery skin
And pulling the red tube
Straight from my arm.
.
(Its so hard to keep them intact.)
((But, when I do, I feel like God.))
.
.
.
VIII.
.
I bathed in my own blood today.
.
It poured from my mouth,
                                           My gums,
                                                            My eyes,
                                                                            My nose.
Every orifice.
.
.
I was smiling the entire time.
.
.
.
IX.
.
I was right, I was right,
                                      My stomach did explode.
I was right, I was right,
                                       It was so beautiful.
.
.
Beautiful as my brittle bones shattered.
.
Beautiful as my skin cracked open.
.
Beautiful as my veins exploded.
.
Lungs imploded.
.
Arms tore away.
.
And body collapsed.
.
.
.
Look Mommy, Look Mommy,
I'm a beautiful, rotten firecracker.