last night i wanted

to ask a friend

if they would tell me

why i should stay

last night i almost

took off all thirty-five beads

on my one-bead-per-consecutive-day-of-no-

self-harm necklace

this morning i told a friend that

i had not been doing all right the

night before, and i was

honest

this morning i woke up to

thirty-five beads

on my necklace.

no blood, either.