There’s familiarity in nothingness
There's just something about nothing
the hollowness feels like being complete;
like your mother never hit your sister,
or your boyfriend didn't pour insults down your throat lungs like cigarettes smoke,
or the bruises on your arms are from
something other than an ER room at 2 in the morning
it will turn your lungs inside out,
and make you crave frailty,
ivory bones,
and skin like sheer silk
You'll find
a body looks less like a battlefield
when there are hipbones peeking out
It feels more like your own
when the hips with handprint branding
shrink
and if you don't eat enough
they'll call you a bird
and never know how true it is
here's the thing about this bird,
under the soundproof skin,
diet coke thighs
and withering organs
there's a bluebird soaring
and the less you eat
the higher she flies
Emptiness feels like courage
when there's nothing inside you but yourself
you can be dangerous
with collarbones like iridescent switchblades
and a stomach that's been eating itself for 3 days straight
if you can stand that
what can they do to you;
nothing