How to peel and eat a poem in Specks:  Dermatographia

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How to peel and eat a poem in Specks:  Dermatographia
In this poem I liken a heartache from a lost love to a medical condition called Dermatographia or skin + writing. It is something not serious because the marks on the skin when scratched usually disappear after a few minutes. In page 9 of Specks, the speaker tries to talk about Dermatographia while also seamlessly talks about the longings of her heart too, and the fact that she has to move on from the pain she felt from a broken heart. Let us dissect the poem:

The Speaker must have moved on because she wants to remember the intimate love she once had by talking about her skinwriting.

Love, I want to remember
the pressure of your fingers
on my shoulder as you trail my arm
down to my hand.
I want to feel now how your fingernails
successfully created red lines
raised above my skin surface.
I want to see now your love letters etched
on every space of my arm.

The Speaker wants to remember because like skinwriting, her love appeared quickly and then disappeared quickly that she doubts whether there was really love. She realizes that Dermatographia and a “broken heart” are two medical conditions that need no cure.

I want to remember now because I wonder
whether the love we had is for real
because my feelings seem impossible
to recreate now.
I just scribbled with my nail
your name on my skin
and it left a beautiful four-letter red mark.
As seconds became minutes,
your name seemed to disappear slowly
but actually it left  as quickly as it appeared.
Doctors say that this is a medical
condition that needs no cure. 
Just like that.

The Speaker wants to mourn her lost love for so long but like skinwriting, she has to accept that there is no need for cure but to let it pass, to forget.

And just like that,
our love left as quickly as it came.
And there is no cure to this pain
but to stop remembering.

The Speaker accepted that there is no cure but to move on, and grieving may seem forever at first but actually, what she felt, the pain of losing, will pass as quickly as her love came. All just like dermatographia.

It  will seem to disappear slowly
but actually it will leave as quickly as it appeared.

*Photo is a screenshot of a web search for Dermatographia. Copyright reverts to owner of photo.
For info, check fb page of Specks for the birthday project fundraising.

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