The butterfly tattoo sits quietly on my ankle
Fine purple and black lines
The one place on our skin which is not scorched
Or scarred
How we hate looking in the mirror
It is a reminder
We bathe in darkness
Hate the light
It illuminates the cracks and splinters
It is really quite amazing that we missed the morgue
We are meant to be
She whispers
It is the only reason we survived
I glance at her sideways
Her skin milky and pure
We are happy when we are walking
It makes our head clear
Less blind
There was a hanging
And a thousand overdoses
Perhaps so common
They amount to nothing
When we were crazy we wanted to show our skin
We thought it would tell our story
We sipped lemonade
Rolled up our sleeves
And showed our story
We are thankful for our butterfly
The fading ink
The distance of time
A story in itself
Our survival.
My friend, your path has been painful, and I am so sorry. I love the hope in that butterfly on your ankle. It is your spirit, Jae, gentle and beautiful and wanting to fly free. I agree that walking clears the head. Trees pass on their peacefulness to us, we drink it in. Last night, though I was tired, I went down the forest trail to the beach. It was so beautiful. How I would love to take you there. I am so glad you made it through. You and your beautiful poems are needed in this world.
ReplyDeleteI can remember you blogging a photo of this tattoo many years ago. I am a whimp and was never tempted to have one done despite injuring myself at sport a number of times which probably hurt a lot more. All of us have a story thankfully that we can write about!
ReplyDeleteI am glad your story is one of survival, and that your tattoo is of a butterfly, symbol of a free spirit.
ReplyDeleteI am sad to hear you have had a bad time of late Jae.
ReplyDeleteYour words spring of hope and your butterfly of a freedom. Thank you for sharing.
Lots of love.
Anna :o]
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous write 💝
ReplyDeletebutterfly tattoo ... freedom and liberation ... loved it.
ReplyDeleteHere's to the butterfly of survival Long may she flutter!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful, vulnerable, and sad. I want to give the speaker a hug, and I'm also reminded to hug my loved ones who I'm certain have stories behind their ink as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Magical Mystical Teacher...
ReplyDeleteSurvival is, indeed, very telling.
ReplyDeleteThe butterfly is the end result of the metamorphosis and perhaps this is the hope of one who cannot look into the mirror: to become that butterfly.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Stunning piece.
ReplyDelete