Sanguine striations, variegated lines, tracks and apertures left behind. Copper patina staining the tongue, elegant paths remaining unsung. Night spreads open beneath the blade, dermis parted, precisely flayed. Edges raw, needing, bleeding, under the starless dark receding. Close your eyes and listen near the arterial cadence of your fear. Hear it thrum, thrum, thrum, like skin drawn tight across a drum. We embrace as the fading waits, you turn away from your chosen fate. Skin slowly cooling out of sight, inside this vast enclosing night.
