Breaking Two Habits

By | 1 August 2014

I’ve been hooked on
Two things since I was
A middle school student
Thing one: I bite my fingers
Bit by bit
Till the nails are jagged and
The tips raw with
Blood and flesh
Whenever my hands are
Idle
Thing two: I tear the layers of skin
Off my lower lip
Bit by bit
Till it bleeds
Whenever my lips chap

Getting off bed this morning
I stand in front of the mirror
Gazing at the ghost-like
Reflection of myself
With tumbled hair, vacant eyes
Cragged fingertips and bloody lips
I feel so scared
That I cram the two habits
I’ve long possessed
Into a paper envelope
Fold it up and squeeze it
Under one leg of my marble dining table
The shriek from inside
Is also blood-red

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