forever a draft

who would have thought a tiny bleach burn would be a birth scar

cutting bangs, tattooing ink

she becomes Michelangelo carving David

terrified to leave the womb but choking on amniotic fluid

relieved only by release

of expectations

of perfection

of sabotage

entering the world more and more as herself

like a splattering of paint across the canvas and the floor

or fingertips stained with rainbows and charcoal

she becomes her own messy conception

on display but not for public review

for the purity of the universe experiencing itself