SHADOWS OF THE SOUL
The Philosophy of Intimacy
A collection of short essays published for JANE. by the Grey Attic magazine

I came to love myself in defiance, out of desperation, because there was nothing else. Because there was nothing left. No sun in the palm of my hand kissing me with its mouth. I had to listen. I was forced to listen. To give myself backbone. To allow myself to be (for the sake of my own survival); if your hand shakes it shakes, if your pulse trembles let it tremble. You cannot follow your intuition if you drown it out with thought. Open your life, open your hands, open the movements of your body. You are a malleable structure made flesh blood bone and whole. This heart made to burn up, burn in, burn out. The body continues beyond shadow: beside, under, above, from. An embrace that is both internal and external. Do not break away, do not break. Apart. In pieces, by piece. To peel apart the collage of my skin with teeth of my own. Teeth that strip you back from yourself, make you over into something else. Give me the release of a bloodbath. Some souls burn forever, and some have never seen fire.

Essential reminder: Unclench your teeth.