Shedding The Old Skin (Poetry)

I’ve worn this too long —
of late it’s become
uncomfortable
ill-fitting in parts
and dragging me down

A ragged old coat
all mine I admit
and when it was new
I proudly wore it
it suited me fine

But age has it torn
and thinned by the years
it hangs in tatters
showing stains of tears
from dead romances

Once it clung so close
snug around each limb
warmed what lay within
and without a crease
no snag to betray

slow separation —
how skin peels away
shedding a past life
beginning today
this snake slithers free