I look in the mirror and see skin;
Excess the only perceivable remark.
Peel it away, a voice says to me.
Peel it away, and you will be free.

I take my sharpest blade, the voice,
My guide. So much flesh removed,
I turn to the mirror in admiration.
I feel limber, lighter. A fatty film
Stretches over my body like saran wrap.
Peel it away, a voice says to me.
Peel it away, and you will be free.

I break the seal. Striated pulp holds
My bones together. In the mirror,
Adjoining ether inflames the bare tissue.
Peel it away, a voice says to me.
Peel it away, and you will be free.

I seize clumps of red matter
And rip them from my being.
I look in the mirror. Never
Has my facial structure been so
Pronounced. My eyes, so replete.
Peel it away, a voice says to me.
Peel it away, and you will be free.

Before I begin, I look at my reflection.
“There is nothing else to peel away.”
Thank you, I hear behind me.
An animated frame of ivory stands
Before me. He absorbs his spoils where
They lie and takes my former form.
Now I am free.
I am a skeleton with nothing more than
A network of exposed fibers signaling
Belated warnings. Overtaken by atmosphere,
I collapse.