and by the way (wherein I wish I were a 'better' writer)

I've been gardening.
the handles of the hoe, fork, rake
have torn my skin to blisters.
on my right, on the thumb, just below the web
the skin is gone
is dark, is shining wet
and if I stretch my fingers wide
the skin splits.
cracks.
whole skin stretches
this, beneath, this partial skin
breaks like utah plains
and oozes
the breakfast I've wolfed
has let me leak
through a patch
of burned lost paper
red.
some people grow bone when wounded
a genetic defect
I leak, which is normal
and I stretch my fingers
breaking and tearing myself
which is normal
old scars dot my hands
around the new break
and perhaps minerals in the soil
perhaps my own chemistry
the wrecked layer sparkles
like rumpelmintz