Sapling

Shavings fall to the ground

the unkempt floor of your past endeavors

you start in the torso where emotions are found

these are the easiest to mold, fastest to sever

Slow and steady was your trade

day and night you worked over me

natural beauty interrupted by your blade

as you sought to control the sapling tree

Chisel the defects into perfection

but your pride overlooked the signs of abuse 

my skin carries the knots of my dejection

where branches reached before your misuse

Whittle out the pine as my sap seeps through

wiping these away to prevent stain

you promise a better life where I'm anew

an extension to your territorial domain

I trust your empty phrases

fooled into preferring a polish over my scaly skin

your blistered hands guiding my altering phases

my new shape a trophy to your sin

The sapling dies

uprooted from the earth

as a rigid immobile figure rises

your promises failed in my rebirth