All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
tugging on my fingers
there is an itch
I must scratch
I must
scratch this patch
I cannot survive
if this patch of skin is not
scratched
pick pick pick
click click click
today it is my lips that
run dry
and epithelial layers –
I pry
and they comply
and the scabs on my knuckles
they have not
healed
but I tug and
ignore the pain because
I do not yield
the battlefield
or warzone?
is covered in grass now
so I lay down
and it stings me. ow–
its almond-colored splinters of
death
poke holes in me
as if I wasn’t broken enough
already
and now too
my voice
is unsteady
with fear and with worry
calm calm calm
I scream
and I am sunken so
of course I am not heard by
anyone other than the fish
who
heed my warnings and
they slither away through the water with
a splash and a swish
like
a terrifying
pack of snakes
I once thought I liked
the lakes
now I’m not so sure.
there are mosquitos here everywhere
everywhere they swarm the air
oh god
they are everywhere
and they won’t leave me alone
please
I came
for silence
why is that so
so
so hard to find
I beg
they are everywhere
and I can’t sit still
while the mosquitos run wild
tap tap tap
my fingers hit the table
and the water
and
the earth
because
they can’t sit still
and if i pull on them
they will break
again
because I think
I do it too often
maybe everywhere
all the time –
no
I want to again
and I can’t
but also
it’s this itch
I need to scratch
and nothing
no, nothing
will match the pleasure
that comes from the itch
of this bad habit.
Similar Articles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 0 comments.
While writing this piece, I thought it would be fun to play around with spacing. As soon as I started, reading it felt hurried and fractured, which then contributed to the topic.