spine

you love my back 

but you don’t know what it carries

how my spinal cord 

contorts into alignment 

for the convenience of others 

built to convince them

my head rests on solid shoulders.

i stand tall

shoulders back, 

slouch no more.

scolded to scoliosis 

tailbone arched to please

each spinal peak

rises like a wave

then breaks

against freckled skin.

i place my pain in ink

along this rocky mountain chain.

behind my eyes

each needle finds a nerve

and teaches it to curve 

until even sensation

is fried to silence.