Tie-Dye

This dress was ripe with stains On the verge of being lost to last year And its ambiguous grey-green shading Last year's heart took my eyes and Squeezed The life out of them Until they bled right over the sick-skin skirt I released it from the shadows today Took it firmly in my palms Twisted handfuls into pink baby fingers Wrapped them So tight the string sliced my skin I pulled it with my teeth Wrapped it around my knuckles A knot In my soul as I held it close to me one last time A drop In a bucket outside the back door No more rue or rose or dandelion My dress is gladioli Purple Swimming in it Absorbing it Living it Nothing but these dull peach rings To remind me of last year And her victim And of why I wear my dress like this Like a smile And the proudest scar I ever saw.