I glide into the room, confident and perfectly aloof
a nod of the head to her, elbow-grasping shake to him
a few "you look amazing"'s and "did you see the game"s
"Now won't you please excuse me. I'll brink you back a drink"
I walk into the other room
How did I get so ugly? My flesh peels off the bone
my voice cracks and my eye twitches uncontrollably
as I begin to scratch at my face
I limp back to the party
"You were drinking a scotch & soda, right?"
"now what were you saying about your daughter?
"A Vassar grad? You must be very proud"
"oh, a page. I need to take this in the other room"
I stride back to the other side of the wall
running my hands through my greasy scraggly hair
if begins to fall out in clumps, spilling onto the floor
exposing the scars and scabs on my scalp
I crawl back to the scene
"oh, thank you but I can't take credit for it"
"it was put together by a designer from Home Expo"
"I liked how he combined different colors and textures"
"Let me go get you his business card"
I saunter into the back room
I poke at the tumor protruding from my stomach
scraping away the dead skin and crust
it's twice as big as it was this morning
I slumped to the floor and drifted to sleep
