Bloody Redemption
My blood lies on the floor:
rich droplets pressed into white softness,
a paper towel with designs of intimacy
traced upon it.

My arm is bloody, red, and wounded--
each line upon it, each blade-caress
a performative picture,
bleeding out impurity.

My blade is blackening thickly,
sharp: it is beautiful
glinting under electric lights
full of the promise of redemption.

My skin is fragmented, but I--
I am whole
I will not shatter, I will not break
not so long as my blood flows.

Beautiful Girl
Copyright, Nicole

Nobody wants
To dance with the beautiful girl
Nobody thinks
That she is really beautiful-
She runs her tongue across her
painted lips
Touches her hair, and
Smiles from her safe place

Nobody sees
The thoughts of the beautiful girl
Nobody knows
The place where she is hiding
She doesn’t seem to notice as they
All stand back
Her dress slips off her shoulder
She’s dancing on the
Dance floor all alone

Nobody likes
The scars on the beautiful girl
Nobody wants
To see the pain that clearly
She lets them show like patchwork
Foreign patterns on her body
They make a startling contrast
With her sharp stilletto heels

Nobody dares
Get close to the beautiful girl