hangnails

hangnails

peeling

myself 

apart

like an onion--

is there

anything more 

to find

beneath

this tender flesh?

all I can see 

is reddening 

skin, 

yellow fat, 

muscle

pulled taut--

I can't breathe,

but maybe 

if I tug hard enough,

I'll unravel,

smaller

smaller

smaller

until 

something

like myself

is revealed. 

but so far,

I am nothing 

but coppery bone, 

    

my skull bare 

with an 

undying smile.