Orange Peeling

Orange Peeling

Peeled away

(pearls and onions)

so many layers

(I never knew I had so many souls)

no blood

and the pain

no

more like

the image of pain

where it should be

but isn’t

(why doesn’t the pain enhance

as nerves greet the light

screaming)

I’m shaking

yet I can’t feel it

So much of me being ripped away

like disappearing sunsets of my youth

And that which I found here

is stripped away from me too

(I can’t even cover the raw flesh)

So much of what I am

and what I’d hoped to become

gone

Smaller and smaller

I’m dissolving

till the heart of the matter is uncovered

and all that is left

are peelings

February 24, 1993

Tressa Lee Breen