TW: mentions of self-harm

 

Staring at the mirror while tears were falling down my face

My mind consumed with which punctuation to use

I was scared of finishing my english essay with the wrong sentence

With the wrong words,

With the wrong letters,

With the wrong punctuation. 

Fear of disappointment plagued my body

My hands moving on their own

Reaching for the pencil 

Starting to write their own beautiful story on my wrists

Trading the lined paper for lined flesh

Slicing through the skin with each word they wrote

Until there was no more room on the page

My hands weren’t sure whether they should finish the story

Or leave the wounds open 

To continue their tragic work another time

The unfinished narrative on my forearms 

Staring right up at me

Distracting me from the english essay that once consumed my mind

Leading me to procrastinate once again

Which punctuation mark would I use now?

 

-  story on my skin