When the mother bonobo plucked
a parasite from her child’s back,
a small droplet of blood pooled
on the surface. Did the adolescent primate
cogitate, ruminate
over the permanence
of scars?

After nearly a quarter century
donning his talisman, I found myself
middle-aged & single, sitting
under a naked winter willow, rubbing
the permanent divot now encircling my finger,
with a new found appreciation for the term
deciduous…found it apropos in describing
my marriage.

I felt like a four year old
with a skinned knee
picking at the scab,
a child with chicken pox, powerless
to stop scratching, wondering when
the healing would begin.

And then, like magic,
while running my index finger
through the layers of spring pollen
blanketing my scarlet red convertible,
I glanced down to discover
the pale recessed flesh on my ring finger
had finally disappeared.

—

Shawn Aveningo is an award-winning poet whose poetry has appeared in dozens of publications worldwide.  Shawn hosts the “Verse on the Vine” poetry show in Folsom, CA (www.verseonthevine.com) and has been a featured poet in Sacramento, San Francisco, Sausalito, Seattle and St Louis. Shawn’s a Show-Me girl from Missouri, graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Maryland and is a very proud mother of three.