Abrasive Clarity

Rough stone scrapes against knuckles, grinding copper dust into the pores until the skin burns with a dull heat. Each rhythmic stroke fails to lift the deep staining, revealing instead how the pigment settles into the fine lines of the palm like sediment in a riverbed. Beneath the grit, an ancient, geometric ridge remains etched firmly into the bone, refusing to be smoothed away by effort or intent. The friction eventually yields to a quiet stillness, leaving only the warmth of worked metal and the heavy weight of what cannot be undone.