Abrasions And Devotion Poem by Melissa Hurst

Before you raise your hand
to bruise,
implore that I exchange my frown.

Before your fingers swallow your palm,
I request a heavy amount
till satisfaction ravages me.

To be willfully blemished
is to illustrate what one
will do to reveal its immense affection,
to win the love of another.

We cannot proclaim that we love
if we run from little discomfort.
We can warm their cold shoulder
with self-affliction,
submission shall sway their hearts.