Dermatillomania - Laura Stevenson

This acid flush of shame

Can only be man-made

Its ugly roses bloom and wither when I look away

The photographic bulb

It flashes and explodes

Only when I’m edging close to feeling weightless

I’m a finger-breadth away

And then I see your face

Are you rolling in your grave

While I soak it with my piss?

From the basement of your house, I can’t find my way out of it

So scar up where it counts

No one can see me now

Dermatillomania, we lay our flags down

And it’s not a sign of hope

It’s not a suit of armor

Only a reminder

And then I see your face

Its features are the skyline of a city I can’t place

A city struck with plague and now your eyes are out of frame

But I’ll always know your name

You’re lucky that you died before I could sing

Now you’re exorcised

Now that I have hexed you

Now you’re exorcised from my mind