scrubbing the bathroom floors till the pink tile sparkles in between pure white grout

i've got a snakeskin i'm shedding

the only way to remember is to lose

an action of contradiction,

yet the hypocrisy falls away with every snip

to cover is to project cruelness

below four years of grime i can't erase

is a warmth worthy of exposure

i'm getting clean, baby!

i'm revealing myself to myself

some things cannot be summed up in words

only whispers into split ends

cascading towards my parent's bathroom sink

the "you-missed-a-spot"s into the dorm's drain

people will see below this layer of change

and i will not be pretty

but i will be me

i'm getting clean, baby! to myself, myself

memory leaves a mark i won't erase

i'm making space for my love

i'm nursing away the bruises atop my skin

but theres scars on my bones that i'll press just to check on them - keeping them there

for cleanliness is not forgettance

i'm soaking up change

there's a self to be cultivated here

i'm tending to the garden of my soul

weeding for life to be lived

i’m getting clean baby! for myself, myself