Scarlet's Poetry Den - The WomanChild Papers

Scarlet's Poetry Den

"The WomanChild Papers"

Thoughts of Wounded Knees

I skinned my knee today
took a wrong step
on the outer edge of my foot
brought my whole body down
staring at the streaming blood
I notice my shin
is also severely scraped

it's only an extremity
which I view with disembodied curiosity
it doesn't hurt now
the nerves have yet
to react to the impact
this will change tomorrow

co-incidentally, I note
my legs need to be shaved
I'm thankful the floor is hardwood
so I don't have to worry
about shampooing a carpet
but then again
if I'd landed on a rug
I wouldn't be bleeding

it's been years
since this happened to me
back when I was considered
a shameless daring tomboy
with perpetually bandaged knees
and other body parts constantly
damaged as I explored my world

I recall one spectacular crash
in the centre of a village in Germany
tiny place called Enkensee im Klei
going too fast on my brand new bike
startled by an oncoming car
which had the audacity to cut me off
I rolled onto my right side
to avoid the collision
they never did get
all the glass and stone out of the wound
somewhere in me remains the silica
maybe by now, I've shed that skin
miraculously, I saved my bike

the poet in me is striving
to turn this into some grand metaphor
but sometimes my muses
need a dressing down,
a reality adjustment

this is just about skinned knees
and remembering some precious moments
when I was a girl
flying on my bike

Published On-Line - Poetry Cafe 1998

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