CHESTNUT HUSK INSIDE FINGERNAILS (# 74,945)

I was hoping to discuss the pain of backs and its effect on writing, but 7 of my fingers are arguing for their case to be heard. Beneath each one sits the husk and skin of partially boiled chestnuts. These soft splinters are as though I’ve been dragged backwards on a balsa wood floor against my will. Not worth reinacting, believe me. The top of each nail resembles a sun-bleached windbreak.

It is not a night to write.