Read this // to remember every part of me // before I leave // and my existence will become a //

remnant of your memory // nothing more // and nothing else

my face // is compromised by ill-willed freckles // shaped like stars // pigmented chocolate drops

// luring in wide-eyed children // birth marks long-lived // by predestination

my shoulders // are arbitrarily hunched // tentatively lurched forward // permanently inverted

my hair // is stained like the color of charcoal against white // diaphanous filigrees assembled

against the hostile // sun and all her friends

my lips // are a lustrous pink // purse into the most // delectable but genuine smile // you would

find hard to miss // and even harder to forget

my hands // are riddled with frostbite // when impending fear halts the jig in my step // tears seep

my gossamer mittens // scars conjure up the battles // I’ve won // surmountable to the sacrifices

I’ve made // and the people I’ve lost

my legs // are long-limbed tools of destruction // obstructions never supple enough for me to

show my appreciation // now I smile at the realization

my eyes // are transparent lenses // peering into the minutiae of a // silent world // curtains fall

away on opening night

my toes // are purposely mysterious // its insecurities disguised by subtle hints of // love,

adoration // stubby little ones // never seem to disappoint

my mind // is loud and quiet // platitudes of thoughts // ebb and flow // overpass mountains of

feelings // overwhelmed by rapture

my words // are whispers // collide with voluminous streams of wild conscious // waiting to be

screamed // or better yet captured

my heart // is worn // from clinging to false hope // to fill an empty void from // running only to

be outrun

my soul // was a wanderer // traveling night and day // among impoverished wayfarers // until

you listened to my // story // and brought me home

I am everything // to you now // and nothing to this world