Sunday, February 24, 2008

Tattoo

Eighteen years of inked messages etched
across my skin like tattoos

each a mark of the journey
I have travelled with
you.



My body is marked with the memory of us

in the places you once touched and loved

and in the place She grew and came to life


and emerged separate and unique


Maybe that is why I cannot

wipe the past away with a damp cloth
or trade it away

like a used car

or give it to charity

like an outgrown suit

because for me

it is part of my very body

the lights and darks
sewn into me like the threads of a quilt
scars and marks of
motherhood and wifehood and family
I can not erase those marks
without erasing who I am and how I came to be
and so I will bear this tattoo forever

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