All Cut Up

• Kuhu Sharma, Grade 11, Nossal High School - Monash University Campus
• Poetry
• 2022

Excellence Award in the 'Unleashed 2022' competition

Feathers, black, dust the ground

So hard to sit still, to slide back into your own skin.
Hard enough that you’re flyaway gone, castaway rough.
Bumps and grazes, dragging your hands;
Now you’re all cut up.

The rustle of the leaves is the crackle of the fire,
So quickly I tire when my secrets get told.
Hark! Wait! Don’t get burned.
The twigs scratch your face,
You slow your heart race,
Now you’re all cut up.

A murder of crows – murder indeed,
I tear my lips with my teeth, make them bleed –
Dips down below; snappy beaks and black eyes.
Hold your breath, say your goodbyes.
Now you’re all cut up.