the condition of fingernails if only my sister's tall finger fingernail
fell off its fingertip bed
because of injury, i'd feel better
and less disturbed
that it fell off its fingertip bed
because she chewed it
and gnawed on it
and bit on it
until she ate its cuticles,
the last of it thinned,
cracked vertically in several places,

finally, one day,
she came up to us asking for band aid.

at least she actually yelped surprise
and showed us her frayed right middle finger.

we all watched
the fingernail curl
like waves over purple ocean
until it had had enough.

i think this was shortly after our mother first left for the u.s.

we are each gifted
with a pair of glassy orbs
each with its own lid
so we can shut them at will,
each with its own tear duct
so we can shine them on cue.
unfathomable depths tell nothing
about anything you want to learn
about everything about their owners,

it's in the nails: you'll see.
i used to paint mine
so i'd stop biting them.
it worked, except that now
i know what the color "clear" tastes like -

mangoes, indian, with red blush
otherwise unavailable except in the
tropical produce aisle.  ¶ 7/13/2005 04:04:00 PM