new_skin tender_square the edges are scaled squares, a rough patch quilt of tissue not yet mended. i graze the irritated surface repeatedly. tiny blisters form from heat and stress embedding an itch, a new tic of touching. a triangle of burgundy specks reveals where blood rushed to surface and dried, where i tore away one side of the bridge not yet reached, a collagen collapse. i soothe and smooth the knuckle with ointment. the site can't heal if i keep excavating the work. 230727 ... raze i see a pale red line where a wound was, with two wisps of clotted fuel that made a crust still hanging on. first to form, last to fall, and water underneath it all. 250301 what's it to you? who go blather from