CW: blood
Tonight, she rips the skin
off the top of her hand
exposing each phalange
She achieves this through addition
not subtraction
A layer of latex
four cotton swabs and some paper
fake blood, red and darker
I’m always proud of my daughter’s
artistry of violence
The attention to detail
the hidden ways of tricking reality
But tonight
she caught me reading about bombs
and rubble
and fathers fighting
while their families flee
Tonight,
pride is hard to find
luck spreads through me
as I imagine
pulling her from debris
and the top of her hand
seven layers of skin
peeling back
caught on a jagged chunk
exposing each bone
encased in meat and blood
and luck turns sour
while grateful feels guilty
knowing, we’re thousands of miles
from explosions and sirens
wreckage and loss
Tonight,
I hate our egos
and human need for more
Tonight,
I tell her WOW
It looks great!
And I do mean it.