Self-Care

by Deepa Rajan

I want to take care of myself.

Image credit: Hannah Xu on Unsplash

I want to bathe and brush my teeth.

I want to take care of myself.

I want to get 8 hours of sleep.

I want to take care of myself.

I want to eat healthy and exercise.

I want to take care of myself.

I want to get a haircut.

I want to take care of myself

I want to add formaldehyde to my scalp.

I want to take care of myself.

I want to inject toxins into my face.

I want to take care of myself.

I want to rip hair from my vulva

until I scream and scream and scream.

***

Deepa Rajan

Deepa Rajan is a scientist and writer living in San Francisco. She holds a PhD in Cell Biology from the University of California, San Francisco. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The B’K Magazine, Synapse, Toil and Trouble Lit Mag, Rough Diamond Poetry, The Poet Heroic, Suburban Witchcraft Mag, and Corporeal. Some of her musings and discoveries are on X: @DeepaHRajan