this skin I'm in
home within myself
through both thick and thin
I've tattooed all my losses
implanted all my wins
this desperate phase
I'm hearing voices
my bones want to speak
tell me how crazed
how wrong I've been
about love and life
my blood seems to boil
cooking me into a scurrilous stew
few of us never spoil
between breaths
we all seek renewal
but these bleak dreams
that torment me
thoughts about sick and sin
I'll never regrow
replace missing parts and limbs
I'll never swim or survive
this soup that I'm in
I have to ask myself
whether purgatory
has an exit point
I have to ask myself
if life is just a reflection
of inspired time and space
if each respite and breath
just another correction
between life and death
this dangerous skin I'm in
crawls with trepidation
stretching existence
into some ethereal resistance
if only my bones would speak
if only my blood wouldn't curdle and boil
all this trouble I'm in
stumbling through days and nights
of muddle and turmoil
befuddled I'm not sure
if I should ask myself
mask myself with all these brazen tattoos
seemingly places and statements
just where I've been
all my wins and losses
this daily grind
if only I new the real cost
of all these things I live and find
all these tracks
I've left drawn on my skin
all these dreams and nightmares
I've been living in
those daunting night terrors
haunting me
those feral demons
existing to want
devouring bits of my soul
I have to fitfully wonder
if I am something
good or even whole
complete under this wretched skin
I'm crawling in
truly me here
living life through
both thick and thin
when the hand of God
touched this spiritual skin I'm in
it seemed that hope lived
when the ethereal sky
opened my third eye
it seemed wishes might come true
it truly seemed the sky was clear blue
no foolish matter
if my skin is thick or thin
so a ghoulish matter
how hard or soft
I live and try
so is this
skin I'm in
is it truth
or is it lies
all these creeps and quivers
this shivering divine I'm in
there is another tattoo
I must soon refine and get
ink another dream in blue
that one true love drew
that one which seems
a daring dream
honest too
that one caring dream
I just can't forget
that one daring dream
when we first met

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