March 2021
Bio Note: The youngest of six children, I was born in Michigan but have resided in Texas
since 1997. I began writing poetry in high school. Two self-published books of poetry are available on
Amazon.com, titled, Mental States: A Poet's Journey and Patchwork of Poetry.
Scars Don’t Heal
I.
I am four or five.
My sister – eight years older.
She has something of mine.
I chase her through the house.
She slams glass door behind her.
I charge through the glass – wrists first.
One-inch-long alabaster
pencil lead-width scar
adorns my right wrist
like a failed suicide attempt.
II.
I am thirteen.
Doc discovers heart murmur.
Surgery – corrects birth defect –
coarc of the aorta.
Scar from incision begins under left breast.
Snakes carefully up my back –
ending midway to my spine.
Dreams of being a track star die.
III.
Scar on the right –
glass ripped.
Scar on the left –
scalpel cut.
Permanent reminders
of absent relationships –
sister estranged,
physicality limited,
disenchantment
at the heart of the matter.
©2021 Marjorie Chesebro
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