I want to see every crack and scratch and gap within your flesh and bones and blood
I already know where to find far more of them than you’d think
So unzip your skin to someone who’s actually deserving
Unzip it to me and I will unzip mine right back
Let me give you the blood you’ve lost
Let me cover your damaged tissue with my muscles
until yours have healed and grown
I won’t pocket any cartilage for myself or press
harder upon your stab wounds, as so many have before
I want to know every inch of who you are
I already know fairly well what it looks like inside
and I still find you as beautiful,
cracks and all
I’m not as squeamish as you fear
let me in, let me in, let me in
Emma Schenker is a graduating senior, heading off to the University of Florida this fall. She’ll be majoring in physics, but loves writing poetry in her free time as a form of creative expression. She has served as editor of the atala for the past two years, has performed poetry on stage, and has contributed her poetic voice not only is to this issue, but also to our Spring 2021 and Spring 2022 issues of the atala.
the atala is designed, curated, & edited by the Pines Charter Chapter of the National English Honor Society. It showcases original student poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, literary criticism, and art. Like its namesake — the small, bright butterfly that grew from near extinction to rising numbers in our part of the world — this little literary journal aims to grow our love of writing and expand our community’s appreciation for the literary arts.
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