i lay myself bare before you, 

shivering and raw, like a skinned animal 

without my lustrous cloak; 

you saw the bleeding edges where the dull knife had slipped beneath my fur, you saw the asperous scars left from blades and blades past, 

you saw my claws looked far too long without my thick, dark, coat, I wasn’t beautiful anymore. 

so as you left me, 

pared 

unconcealed 

unhidden 

unsheltered, 

you assured me, 

it wasn’t my open wounds 

and it wasn’t my jagged scars 

and it wasn’t my sharpened claws, 

that you simply weren’t hungry 

you simply weren’t cold, 

i tried to slip back inside my bloodied matted fur but it didn’t fit right over my skin, it didn’t hold the heat like it used to, 

it hung too loose- stretched too thin in the wrong places, 

Still I wear it, 

Still I wear it, 

Still I wear it