Poem – ode to skin | Sarah K Reece

The magnificence of skin

wrapping heart, guts, brain and somewhere, soul

it links me to the world

whispers to me of the delight of wind

tells me stories of fire, snow, grass.

Contains a million million nerves that feather finely

that sing below the skin, a sweet orchestra, or a shrill harpy choir

holds in the blood, knits over wounds, renews

bears scars, traces memories, maps life, anguish, loss

breaks on impact, stretches, wrinkles, softens, thins

bends over finger joints, folds into elbows, delicately glides over eyes

wears hair like tiny quills, like hills flowing into gullies,

dances in air and water, in smoke, in thistledown,

is perfumed by earth, by sweat, piss, flowers, wine, salt,

and the trace of another’s skin upon our own.

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Sarah K Reece