New Skin

My heel gave out, a raw hot tear

walking to get the mail.

That first sharp bloom of pain, I swear,

made the whole pavement pale.

It's taut now, stretched, a tiny sea

trapped under skin so thin.

A fragile world of misery

right where the shoe digs in.

It wobbles when I shift my weight,

a constant, pulsing thrum.

A little island of my fate,

promising more to come.