i covered my canvas with
seventeen layers of white paint,
one for each time i lost my purity
like a picture of Dorian Gray,
in reverse,
a testament to my slow corruption
into adulthood
some dreams are shattered all at once,
some are left intact,
but mine were stripped from me,
like seventeen layers
of a bitter onion
peeled off with agonizing purpose,
duct tape rent from skin,
until I was left
raw and naked
and covered in the remnant spatters
of seventeen layers of white paint
– ptkh 03.10.20
