"Ode to the Canvas"

Ode to the Canvas

Ode to the marks 

on my blank skin. 

You needed a place 

to paint your art,

 choosing me as your canvas, 

zero disregard for the fact that I 

did not want to be your masterpiece.

you laid your brush on my skin. 

You coaxed my skin,

 with your gentle strokes, 

-----------------dragging your dripping brush across the

length 

of hips and thighs. 

Your favorite colors

 always were the ones that contrasted the most. 

There was no discretion

not in the way you touched my skin, 

your intention was always clear

- for the whole world to see your art. 

You chose me as a canvas but turned me into a gallery instead.

 A gallery of all the work 

you had left on my once

 blank

  skin. 

You turned me into your most prized possession 

and never thought to

STOP

the damage you were causing along the way.

Ode to the hate that you erupted in my mind. 

You made me hate every painted piece of my skin

 because you never

  let me forget. 

You painted a permanent reminder of the painful journeys of

my life.

No matter how much I tried 

And I tried

to wriggle my way out from under your brush,

 you always caught me. 

I never could surprise you, 

Not the way you did me. 

I never knew your next move.

Ode to the artist for never letting go of its masterpiece. 

-Krishna Salano’s