Scars

“Felix had sideswiped something blue, and he was as curious about what it might have been as we were.”

- from Dead-Eye Dick, by Kurt Vonnegut

and that’s it,
isn’t it? you get
set down
and don’t ever get told
by anyone
what got you there. memory
like a deck of cards; you
trip
and never can tell
what will land
face up.
and the head
a burning building — walk in after
and something will be saved
but you can’t say what
beforehand. could be
an unkind
busdriver — could be
a broken
lace. birds land
and don’t get up again. tides
roll in
and stay there. you can
offer something — a penny
or a bowl of rice. maybe
it will be accepted
or won’t be. one of my grandmothers
got old
and lucky. her mind
is simple now — like a screw.
but the other one
lost it. fell
and came up
to torture
and bad memory. people
scar over
until you could strike us
with matches —
very few of us
heal.