Dear scar,

You new, kissless

lips the surgeon made

 

through which the slick

tongue of my son’s life

 

took its first taste

of this world. Now empty

 

of coin or entrance, keeper

of the secret my body

 

never learned to confess,

your cold lips zipped against

 

the steel that made you.

It was the midwife who

 

spoke the sentence:

I was doing it wrong,

 

I’d never learn to let go.

I’d been rehearsing this

 

disappointment my entire life,

tracing fingers over

 

its pressed-in letters

now inscribed: the Shema

 

across this threshold.

Today, as I kiss my fingers

 

to you, this door that would not

be blessed, secret seam

 

where my son and I divided,

your silence is kind. Today I see

 

an indelible smile stitched

below my stretched-out belly,

 

the stigmata that says this body

did exactly what it was asked to do.

 

And when it could do no more,

it learned, by God, it learned,

 

there may be endless

ways to open.

Comments

[Eliza]

I love it.

You're on fire, girl.

Very nice to see. :)

*HUGS*

[Mari]

Beautiful!

[Sandra]

What a birthday present! You are a warrior poet. This is beautiful and so fierce. Happy Birthday, Sage.

[Sage Cohen]

Thanks so much, Sandra. I really appreciate your feedback and your birthday wishes!

[Sage Cohen]

Thanks so much, Eliza! Its good to have these poems coming through.

[Sage Cohen]

Thank you, Mari!

[Short Poems]

So beautifully written :)

[Sage Cohen]

Thanks so much!

Best,
Sage

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Sage Cohen
poet. author. teacher. seeker.

The Productive Writer: Tips Tools to Help You Write More, Stress Less Create Success(NEW from Writers Digest Books, December 2010)

Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry(Writers Digest Books, 2009)

Like the Heart, the World(a poetry collection from Queen of Wands Press, 2007)

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www.writingthelifepoetic.com
www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com
www.sagesaidso.com

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