Bruised III: bruised all over

There is not one part of her
That isn’t covered by a bruise
So when you see this contused girl
Try not to stare at all the hues

From her shins up to her knees
And spreading up her thighs
They’re on her arms and hands
And coloring beneath her eyes

She can’t tell you where she’s got them all
She thinks they’re no big deal
For each of them she got by accident
And some of them aren’t real

The ones that spot her four pale limbs
Are those she would ignore
She doesn’t even notice them
Or feel their dull ache anymore

The ones she wears beneath her eyes
Reflect the unseen injuries
They are from yester-night
Twin signs of her disease

One is of the turmoil of her mind
Where dreams had kept her wide awake
The other of a battered heart
That gives less than it takes

The contusions that bother her the most
Are the ones you cannot see
She can’t see them too herself
But they cause the greatest misery

She thinks that they might be
On her heart and mind and soul
They are of magnificent hues
And over which she has no control

And she doesn’t know
Whether these will stay or go
They’re the only ones that she could feel
And she doesn’t know if they’ll ever heal



7^th - 11^th Oct 2005