There’s familiarity in nothingness

There's just something about nothing

the hollowness feels like being complete;

like your mother never hit your sister,

or your boyfriend didn't pour insults down your throat lungs like cigarettes smoke,

or the bruises on your arms are from 

something other than an ER room at 2 in the morning

it will turn your lungs inside out,

and make you crave frailty,

ivory bones,

and skin like sheer silk

You'll find

a body looks less like a battlefield

when there are hipbones peeking out

It feels more like your own

when the hips with handprint branding

shrink

and if you don't eat enough

they'll call you a bird

and never know how true it is

here's the thing about this bird,

under the soundproof skin,

diet coke thighs

and withering organs

there's a bluebird soaring

and the less you eat

the higher she flies

Emptiness feels like courage

when there's nothing inside you but yourself

you can be dangerous

with collarbones like iridescent switchblades

and a stomach that's been eating itself for 3 days straight

if you can stand that

what can they do to you;

nothing