Etched Substrate

Gritty silt scrapes beneath fingernails, clearing a dark surface to reveal deep inscriptions instead of a reflection. These etched lines trace the jawline like fossilized grooves in an ammonite shell, marking heavy mandates carved directly into bone. As the hand moves, a slight favoring of the left side becomes apparent through the rhythm of these ancient strikes. The rigid markings suggest that what we call self is merely an archaeological site where past compulsions have hardened into permanent stone.