As you become air mattress tight,

you shroud your worth

in circumference.

 

At first, it feels better

to feel less

like a run-on.

 

To pin-prick your skin

and let air escape

from the sides.

 

Say feminist and carve

skin to bone.  Reduce

even word-span to each syllable.

 

Resemble yourself at eight,

crouched down, clinging

to mother’s sleeves.

 

When you felt more marrow

than bone (but found too much

of yourself in a room).

 

Now, brew a new base-

line: love the self more

than its small frame.

 

How you won’t find

rips in iron. Build the body

back with bolts this time.

 

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Shaina Clingempeel has appeared in Black Fox Magazine, Poetry Quarterly, Long Exposure Magazine, and others.