Shedding Skin

　　 by Harryette Mullen

　　 Pulling out of the old scarred skin

　　 （old rough thing I don't need now

　　 I strip off

　　 slip out of

　　 leave behind）

　　 I slough off deadscales

　　 flick skinflakes to the ground

　　 Shedding toughness

　　 peeling layers down

　　 to vulnerable stuff

　　 And I'm blinking off old eyelids

　　 for a new way of seeing

　　 By the rock I rub against

　　 I'm going to be tender again