I Am Trying

I am honored today to host one of the most brilliant ladies I know, my friend Jenny. I read this piece and just begged her to let me post it on my blog. I love it. It's something between prose and poetry and it's macabre yet poignant, almost Baudelaire-esque. 


I hope you like it as much as I did.

I Am Trying

Feeling scared today
Write down "I am ok"
A hundred times the doctors say
I am ok
I am ok
I'm not ok
~ eels

I stand in the shower and look at my blood vessels—a branching, complex network, relaying blood to the tips of my toes, the rough spot on my elbow, the curve of my hip.

My body contains approximately 60,000 miles of blood vessels which circulate a little over five liters of blood. Step back from any squeamishness you have and imagine that color—a rich, gorgeous red. Picture the stark contrast to the pale pastel blue of my veins.

It is beautiful.

Millions of vessels. Capillaries, veins and arteries. A nick here, a scratch there. A satisfyingly fat bead gathers on my fingertip when the doctor performs my monthly blood thinner check; a rivulet streams down my shin when I cut myself shaving, pooling at the bottom of the tub until it flows down the drain, pink ribbons swirling.

One small slip, one wrong cut, too much curiosity, and all five liters will leave my body in minutes.

It is terrifying.

I'm not suicidal...I'm just fascinated.

I'm not okay.

~~~~~~~~~~


You can find this utterly brilliant woman at her blog Like Swimming or on Twitter.