is a pink flower petal
faded & crumpled origami
a time-stamped map
my school girl's body turning to jump
out from a van
as if i have wings
instead of coltish legs & black
polished shoes
the door swinging back
its pointed edge, dull rusty blade on my skin
my eyes, once carefree & blind
suddenly became cautious
of leaping & falling
blind as maple leaf during autumn
(how i admire the faith of baby birds)
i had other scars since then
but you never forget the first time
you see your flesh, not a wrapped & bound book
but a living tissue, popping fat & pulsing
red blood & bones, tiny veins
fragile as roots
of a spring bulb
Posted for dVerse Poets Pub: MTB, The Body & Poetry - where I am hosting about writing a body part/s as part of my history. Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.
Oh Grace....you had me with the title, and then with the first stanza....and then over and over again as I read on. And then to bring in the imagery of maple leaves, baby birds and "fragile as roots of a spring bulb." I want more....no more scars...but just more and more of your graceful (Pun intended) writing!
ReplyDeleteThis is incredibly incredibly moving, Grace!I love the image of "my school girl's body turning to jump out from a van as if i have wings instead of coltish legs," and their comparison to "the faith of baby birds." I guess we are more fearless when we are younger, our eyes not yet coloured by caution. Gorgeous write! 💝💝
ReplyDeleteThe title is like the zoom lens on a camera, Grace, and I love the description of it as ‘a pink flower petal’ and ‘a time-stamped map’. The potted history of the scar is so deftly done:
ReplyDelete‘my school girl's body turning to jump
out from a van
as if i have wings
instead of coltish legs & black
polished shoes’.
'you never forget the first time
ReplyDeleteyou see your flesh, not a wrapped & bound book
but a living tissue, popping fat & pulsing
red blood & bones, tiny veins'
I remember it well. You brought it back in vivid detail!
It's a wonder anyone survives childhood! It's a rude awakening to realize our bodies are vulnerable. Your vivid description of the circumstance and injury bring a couple of incidents back...
ReplyDeleteSuch a vivid and startling revelation of the body inside the body! You grip that moment like someone discovering the garden for the first time. Scars are the map of our coming to earth ... Well done Grace -
ReplyDeleteYou've effectively expressed the pain and the lingering memory.
ReplyDeleteThis was excellently expressed and visceral in its description. OUCH! well written Grace... :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful Grace. My eternal scaris on my chin.
ReplyDeleteOh my! This was both tender and visceral. And that line about the baby birds! Wonderful poem.
ReplyDeleteThese are often some of the most-clearly recollected instances of our youth, and esp so if the scar lingers into our more advanced years. Vividly related, Grace.
ReplyDeleteGraphic detail of living tissue pulsing evokes phantom pain...I also have a scar on my knee (from a bicycle stunt)!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful poem grace! Our bodies are a wonderful creation!
ReplyDeleteI liked this...
but you never forget the first time
you see your flesh, not a wrapped & bound book
Those little birds really are brave!
This is brilliant. From start to finish, I was pulled straight through.
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous imagery!
ReplyDeleteGrace, your poem is wonderfully vivid ... that first cut does feel the deepest.
ReplyDeleteYou brought the event alive again with great descriptive skill!
ReplyDeleteYou've really captured the way one experience can forever color the way we exist in the world. This could apply to so many things. I could really feel the way it changed how you interacted with your body in the world.
ReplyDeleteGrace- what a stunning write!
ReplyDeleteWell done..
ReplyDeleteVivid imagery, evokes the pain and the embodiment.
ReplyDeleteOh this struck quite differently that if I'd read it last week. I found out that my mum had an accident which required a trip to the hospital last week, and she is well versed in scars (most farmers are.) She's fine, just a bit battered and bruised, but it was a vivid reminder of how fragile the human body can be.
ReplyDelete