YOU CAN’T STAPLE SOULS
A facelift, a browlift, and swollen stitched eyes
Stapled tightness across a tired blue face.
Lying beneath a cloudburst of ice packs
Struggling to be beautiful and young again
Eye lids don’t close when she is sleeping
Displaying her painful dreams
The cuts overwhelm her at midnight
As blood drips steadily into a drain
Sandpapered mouth, brown and crusted
Forming pink flesh beneath the ooze
Fighting the urge to tear soiled bandages
Covering wounds deeper than she knows
Drug induced sleep eases raging discomfort
Expressionless features tightly reined
Can all of these staples and stitches and tucks
Make her mom happy with her soul?
written 1997
