Subcutaneous 
Modifications
Make for
Mild party tricks
And offer
Day at the beach
Convenience. 
 
Straight edge dads
In striped Polo’s
Book appointments online
For piercing parlors
With good Yelp reviews. 
 
Cheery skinsmiths
Greet out of place
Artisan class
Lawyers,
Computer scientists,
Pilots, 
At the door.
 
Sitting on a 
Dentists chair
A man in flame scrubs
Whose face is
Pimpled with metal
Hands the esquire a 
Plastic rectangle
To put him at ease 
And incite questions. 
 
The certified 
Lead Minor Surgical Installments Tech
Is ready to
Rapid fire answer. 
 
Heavy duty clear
Zip-Loc plastic bag
With no Zip-Loc 
On top
The size of an 
Efficiency wallet 
Nervously
Rubed between the 
Middle and 
Forefinger
Of his fat
Soft 
Hands.
 
Safety? 
Infection rates? 
Removability? 
Special care? 
Very safe
Very low almost none
Very removable some scarring
If you plan to become a
Body builder
Let us know,
 
Otherwise
Wash and dry
Like everything else. 
 
Local anesthetic to
The lawyer's left thigh
An incision.
Peels yellow fat and 
Carefully parts
Muscle tissue. 
 
Measures twice
That it is perfectly
Deep
And wide.
 
Pulls a new plastic wallet
Suspended in antiseptic
From the pink 
Drawers behind
The patient’s 
Reclining polyester chair. 
 
Carefully slides
It into the
Incision
With forceps
Very much
Going with the
Flow of the
Muscle to
Reduce irritation. 
 
An omnipotent 
Observer
At a club
2 days later
Would see
Flame Scrubs 
Now in 
Bold clubbing
Button up
Pulling a
Dime bag of 
Cocaine 
From his 
Left bicep. 
 
An otherwise
Unassuming girl
In the bathroom 
Pulls a 
Baggie of molly
From a pouch 
In her cheek 
That she 
Mouthwashes daily. 
 
An addiction 
Recovery ally
Worriedly searching
Through the 
Human cars crashing
Vigorously tongues 
The scar in his mouth 
Where his
Own little pouch
Used to be.

*This piece was largely inspired by the CyberPunk 2077 gameplay trailer released last year. I wrote it as a way to think about light body modifications that take a step away from the aesthetic value of piercings and start to move towards more utilitarian consumers. 

I wanted it to have the gross feeling that I think watching the ripper doc cut into V’s arm does in the video. Something unsettling, but that you know is useful. It doesn’t feel useful to you, but useful to the character. I don’t want a surgically implanted pocket, and I don’t want someone to rip my eye out and install a more advanced one that links up to the world around me, but I can see some value in them. 

CyberPunk 2077 Trailer: (48min, an absolutely amazing video, should be nominated for an Oscar) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjF9GgrY9c0