Scars

by Cassandra J. Manuel

I should have known thereafter

Drawn upon a sea

Of secret truths

And gnawing sleuths

That never let me be.

Beneath two feet of callused skin, that trenched upon the gravel

On the earth and through the roads

In heat, and in my travel,

I left the pieces of my past that scarred me cut to cut

In favor of a cleaner slate.

A life not run amok.

But had I known that deeper cuts, were only steps away

I’d let my scars run free and red

And keep me there to stay.

Let the blood trail down my calves and pool around my feet.

A crimson pool to wade in light

And darkness, that will keep

Until I sink into the ground, then forevermore—

The sands of time to lay my head

And weep in celebrator.

In happiness and sweet relief that nothing came to pass.

No new scars to mar my skin

Only old amassed.