Summary

In the first stanza, the speaker states that she is in the process of discarding her old scarred skin. She goes on to describe this old rough skin as obsolete, which is why she actively removes and abandons it.

In the second stanza, the speaker places shedding in a physical context as she sloughs off her skin's dead outer layer and flicks the flakes to the ground. The third stanza generalizes the context as the speaker peels her tough exterior to arrive at the "vulnerable stuff" (10). This affords her new sight in the fourth stanza.

In the fifth and final stanza, the speaker declares that she will renew her tenderness by the rock she rubs against.

Analysis

In her poem "Shedding Skin," Harryette Mullen examines the physical process of shedding as a metaphor for the regeneration of self. With her characteristic wordplay, Mullen...