She sits alone in the center of her room,



Legs crossed, eyes closed, hands clasped.



She opens her mouth, takes in all of the air around her,



And then holds it inside for just over a minute.







When sixty-four seconds pass,



She opens her mouth, her eyes



The door to her heart,



And unclasps her hands...



She lets the air escape



And uncrosses her legs...







She lays down on her back



And she stares at the ceiling,



Thinking about the brighter days



When her father had actually paid the electric bill...







When she used to hang out with her friend Denise



Every Sunday and talk about fashion, makeup and boys.



When she used to dance in the rain without a care



And let the rain drops caress her tongue and



Ultimately caress her entire body.



She remembers those days so clearly...







But Denise is gone, glass embedded in her skin, her bones, her heart.



And the rain, it doesn't matter anymore.



The sensation of rejuvenation is no longer present,



And the urge to dance away her sorrows is long gone...







She gets up from the ground and walks toward her drawer.



She picks up a picture of Denise and hurls it at the ground.



The glass of the frame shatters into pieces across the worn red fabric of the carpet.



She picks up the sharpest of the shards of glass,



And carves a message in her arm:



You don't know what pain is







The blood drips onto the carpet, staining red with red,



And her eyes, their color drains from a bright hazel to a solemn dark brown...



Her skin turns paler, her room loses the weak light of the sun sneaking in through her shaded windows....



She closes her eyes, sits down with both legs crossed, and clasps her hands...







She takes in the air around her once more,



She takes in the faded colors of her room,



The yellow of the walls and the various shades of brown



That make up her two dressers, a chair, and her nightstand.



She takes in the blue of her bedsheets and the light brown of her hair...



And she lays onto her back once more, this time with no intentions of releasing the air or getting up again.