Poetry: Scarred

She is in love with scars

That come with stories:

The fall when you were a kid

The bar fight you got into in college

The morning when you burned yourself cooking breakfast for the kids

Those never-healed blisters from dance shoes and hiking boots

 

She was never brave enough

To risk falling

To risk failing

She was never bold enough

To dance

Or fall in love

Always afraid of getting hurt

Afraid of getting close to anyone who would eventually slip away

 

And now, looking back,

She wishes she had scars.