how to (re)cover yourself
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here’s how:
grab a hold and tear / as if through skin
rip / the frills off
get impatient and angry
cut / through layers and pull out / threads
let stitches run / up and down the skin / like finger tips
fray / the edges / then seam them back up
sew clumsily / visibly
prick / fingers and bite / through the pain
pull tighter and closer
gag / on the excess fabric
press with heat / burn / and wear to bed / then to work the next day
reassemble / with new thread
get complimented for girlish dis/figure/ment
tear / open the fresh seam / then the flesh
re/pair until like new / well-used but not yet used up
split / like a wound underneath the patch
forget and neglect / until paint-stained and torn
when you can no longer see it
pretend it’s not there
Published online November 17 2015.
Eileen Mary Holowka is a grad student, writer, and editor. She tweets, sings, and takes pictures of her gecko under the name @elmahka
This piece was published in ‘Out of Line,’ the Fall 2015 issue of CV2.
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