Scar

raised white lines
dried up pits on twigs
these are the soldiers left behind enemy lines
in pow camps
or the purple ache in my chest when I said
good bye

the upturned ground
fresh and dank with its new corpse to eat
stretch marks on my body
a map of how i've grown

that cavernous tiny hollow on my belly
my first mark of life
tied off and cut free
the most elemental liberty
for me to be me

numb
above or below
it doesn't matter anymore
out in plain view
or hidden beneath clothes
it has a consciousness of its own