If they leave you.

If they leave you
with only their memories
sticking to your skin,
don’t try
to cut it out
in hopes that you might
bleed art.
(you won’t)

If they leave you
with only their names
dangling off the corner
of your mouth,
don’t try to stitch it
into your skin.
(their names will grow teeth
and swallow you whole)

If they leave you
with only destruction
dripping from your teeth,
don’t try to hide it
by burying it
six inches deep
inside your flesh.
(they will grow roots
and soon your whole body
will start smelling
like their name)

Instead, pluck the sun.
Make a home for it
inside your body.
Crush it between your bones.
Let the sunshine
melt through your veins
and burn the memory
of their names
off your skin.
(you are enough. you are enough)

---

-Rupali Jeganathan | The Girl Lost In The Bookstore

Picture credits: CCO.
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