Cold Summer

Two feet away from my 'destination', I skim too closely to a pair of small shrubs. This results in the dramatic and substantial collision of pale greenery and (my) bike handle, which, it happens, is fixed firmly to (my) hand. Directly below the curve of (my) middle nail is a thin line- one centimeter, approximately, in total length. It is crimson, dense. Blood beneath the nail beneath the skin. It looks like a short sliver of raw hamburger meat. I want to puncture it, but I don't.