Marrow
Pain passes membranes
slyly smiles
teeth blackened, daggered
bite through time
spit-splatter into lifetimes
beyond bodies
Karmic lessons dangle
like keys from
soul locks
if I listen I can
hear them clang
It’s the deciphering
that’s difficult
the surround-sound
of trauma is deafening
So I look for the mouths now
on pain’s shifting faces
stick out my arm
let them clamp down
When bone breaks
I know I have the power
my marrow is my own
its work is to keep
me breathing bloody
to clot inherited
narratives penned by pain
I choose to fight
the dis-ease of
letting go, finally
with lasting attention
Yes, it is hard
to give suffering a meal
but a meal is something
to be grateful for
the fullness of belly
the distinction in digestion
the extraordinary excrement
VANESSA SHIELDS, writer 