I found you rocking in the corner, clutching your arm, marked with dark ochre
like lines of blood--My dear Lily, that was a very bad thing to do to yourself.
I shall have to remove those scars. And I...yes..I etched the dotted lines
around the archipelago of pain, and I sank the nails of my steel-plated hand...deep
...and peeled away her skin, inch by gasping inch. And she cried, she caught
her breath and gurgled and convulsed like a butterfly, or just...
the sweetest rag doll that ever lay warm and heaving in my arms,
her eyes flitting closed, her silky head drooping exhausted
against the junction of my shoulder and neck. Shhh Lily, it's all right now.
You're beautiful. I love you.