Ode To My Splinter

From the collection of “Bodily Observations”

My thumb snuck out on a date

At the corner of a pine wood crate,

Lodged under a spiraling Zentangle,

Steel jaws grind against flesh

To sway it deeper into its blanket.

Stubborn, bloodless parasite, 

Even striated wrigglers and skin hoppers

Know when to pop when squeezed.

The needle-nosed demon rests

Easy on its lukewarm waterbed

While I unwillingly weave a tent 

From epidermis for a squatter 

Buried deep and bending beneath

A heap of muscle and meat.

Wedded to an oily pore,

It nestles in that flushed cocoon

Where it will be born with goat horns 

And a crimson, pointed tail.

I’ll dial up a priest for only

God can evict it now.