Dirt

Dirt

Move your hands through the deep dark soil

Let it coat your nails and embed itself in your fingertips until it’s pressed under your nails

Pull them out but don’t wash them, let them dry and feel the itch of the crust crack around your cuticles

It felt good at first, wet, cool, and dark

Good enough to close your eyes and feel innocent in pressing into the mystery of what you couldn’t see

It felt simple, a pleasure that took you back to childhood waiting to be called in from a long day of play

Now it’s dried, it’s sitting on top of your skin and you can’t rub your eyes

It’s dirty, it reminds you that innocence can be lost in the amount of time it took to dry

You feel compelled to wash it off, any soap will do, you must rinse it away completely, it’s the only way to feel clean again

That’s how your dirt made me feel

Lost innocence dried and washed away