Cutting - My Hypnosis

Everyday, in the back of my mind, I deal with the demons of my not-too-distant past. Sometimes I can go for days, even weeks, without thinking about them. But they have a way of resurfacing often enough to keep me on my toes, or even bite me in the ass. I can't remember the exact date I began cutting, but it was Fall 2008. I was an arts student, which made lines cleaner, and things more accessible for me - exacto knife, anyone?

I cut for a release, when I'm feeling so much it overwhelms me to the point where I can't physically scream out for help. Or, when I'm feeling something confusing that I can't completely identify. There's no telling when the urge will strike, but I can say that I haven't purposefully drawn blood since January of '09, which I view as an accomplishment. At one point though, a quote from Girl, Interrupted more than accurately depicted the state of my arm - Lisa: "You're cut up like a God damn Virginia ham."

I love Angelina Jolie's Lisa in Girl, Interrupted. One of my faves. Lisa just knows things, reads nuances, studies peoples' weaknesses... then hypnotically pushes their buttons. She tells it like it is, no sugar-coating. "You know, there's too many buttons in the world. There's too many buttons and they're just- There's way too many just begging to be pressed, they're just begging to be pressed, you know? ... and it makes me wonder, it really makes me fucking wonder, why doesn't anyone ever press mine? Why am I so neglected?" I can relate to that feeling, even if I'm not skilled at pushing people over the edge like her. I wrote the following poem a good year before I even began cutting, demonstrating the low-threshold I had to begin with.

My Hypnosis
With a single glance
the kitchen blades entrance;
my eyes stray to my wrists
I finger my veins and examine my fists.
For some it's ropes or ledges -
Nothing for me but serrated edges.

I caress the steel,
hypnotized by the appeal...
Dazed thoughts of dark fascination
flood a mind seduced by the temptation.

In this short lived reverie,
Nothing exists but the knife and me.

This next one I penned 10 February 2009, when I was just in recovery, so bear with it, as it wasn't written to follow existing poetic guidelines.

Hewn
The broken tree limb lay banished from paradise
Alone, until a fevered worker came along.
I watched, entranced, as he began to cut and slice.
Even while knowing his work was wrong.

With every blow delivered by the workman
ribbons of life sap blossomed over the bark,
Protesting that life still persisted within
anxious to end the agony of his painful lark.

As the limb's wounds spread and congealed
The pulse of life continued to throb
- and yet the resolute worker could not yield.
Though his eyes swam as he began to sob.

Looking at his work had me hypnotized
Morbid scars littered the dejected limb
Marks left permanently on a soul compromised
by a worker's debilitating whim.

It's a new battle every day for me: I never know when I'll trip a landmine, but thus far, I'm able to keep the enemy at bay.