the border between two extremes by Grace Shelton

i can’t stay in my 

own skin           can’t stay 

bugs crawling in my veins         itch them 

away i don’t want 

to exist             i can 

feel the heat         building 

underneath my skin tearing       apart like          paper. eyes 

catch on       streetlight 

fingernails graze 

gauge gage rivets in my back                 flow 

free insects                   lava under my lungs i can’t 

breathe             i can’t focus i can’t i can’t i 

can’t stop 

thinking            my eyes are                  caught 

on a streetlight splattered 

in blood            or paint             or light 

on a roadside left to                   suffocate 

i don’t want to live in my own skin. 

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Grace Shelton is a full-time student at Susquehanna University, where she studies Spanish. Her work can be found in the Lumiere Review, Rivercraft, and the Minnow Literary Magazine among others. She finds inspiration in late nights and music played on loop.