Bruises

your fingerprints are forever branded onto my skin and when I look in the mirror I can still see every wound you left on my body I see blood running down my kneecaps I see my throat turned blue from your tight grip I feel every smack across the face that I perceived as love I still hear my mom asking where the bruises came from and as I get older I realize that some bruises never go away every day I remember less of the way your lips wrapped around your words I can forget your tongue and how it painted lies across my body but what I can’t forget is how it made me feel I wish I could say that it was love but you blurred the line between love and pain and how do you really measure the difference when blood was his sign of accomplishment and he claimed the discoloration of my skin as his trophy I wish I could say it meant nothing but it meant everything to me