This Side Of My Skin

• Natasha Sam, Grade 12, Grace Lutheran College -
• Poetry
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

Your lips once soft on this side of my skin,
Papercuts left on flesh now rough as stone,
Dizziness, loneliness, makes my head spin,
You could have stayed you know? You must have known.

This side of my skin yearns for heat that burns,
Sears my face with coals of the love that was,
Acrid smoke chars the air as my blood churns,
You cried and slashed our hearts with heedless claws.

This side of my skin becomes numb with cold,
Slate grey, it bites like iron on the tongue,
Pained devotion stains your eyes, uncontrolled,
Yet you leave, still, and I am spurned, scorned, stung.

I wish it weren't so hard, I really do,
But our controversial love is so true.