the stripes on my shoulder

the stripes on my shoulder
are marks of my daily life
not made with pen or a pencil
but with my own precious knife

they once let out the pain inside
and let me see the point in it all
but then the world became black
and then down I would fall

I needed to go deeper
find the part that truly aches
had to push harder, slit faster
until the opposition breaks

the stripes first were white
the new ones all are pink or red
it makes me wonder
is there a better way instead?