I Am Draped in Heavenly Skin

I am draped in heavenly skin
from head to toe. Back then they said

you could never be the girl you know
yourself to be. I knew too much

about myself to stay alive. I stayed
alive. I wrote names on my body with

pins, nails, knives, fire, anything
that would mark the flesh.

This kind of violence is a shrine
to itself. The way it touches you

without breathing, thinking, feeling.
What is left of me? The songs I sang

to keep from sleeping sound like
nothing more than rain. I woke up

this morning a garden. I took pictures
of all my flowers. I was beautiful

as far as I could tell.