My Skin

By: Annelise Edwards-Daem

My fingers are ring holders

My skin a dress

I adorn patterns 

and scars

of roses and blood.

My eyes are 

jewels

that glisten in the wind.

My mute 

tongue 

rests on sugar-coated petals.

My garment is 

Touched.

Grabbed.

My petals

Caressed.

Plucked.

by hands that aren’t mine.

I’m a vessel 

in a sea of eyes

a corpse laid out on a table

once this is all over.

Annelise Edwards-Daem (She/Her) is starting her PhD in October at Nottingham Trent University, where she also received her MRes in English Literary Research and BA in English with Creative Writing. Her poetry has been published in Nottingham Poetry Exchange’s anthology, Voices, and Teen Belle Magazine.

Twitter: @annelise2828