Knife Fighting

The best way to win a knife fight

is to not get in one

but we’ve all felt the touch of steel;

look at these scars on my left hand,

my third finger is missing two knuckles deep

they call that a “defensive wound”

see? here, this one above my lung,

where someone tried to steal my breath

this one on the back of my right leg,

where she tried to keep me from leaving

this one over my throat

where she tried to still my endless words

the best way to win is to not get involved,

and yet there a twisting sucker that runs parallel to my spine

where she tried to make me weak

the left side of my jaw, where she finally let loose

and cracked me a good one

and the biggest one,

right in the center of my chest,

where she tried to make it so I could never love again

I’ve seen your scars, and they are unique,

though you are just as cut as I am

the blood we felt warm on our flesh as it ran out

was the same

we are a tattooed reminder, a map of our pain

I am not defined by the wounds that brought me down

I am the person that stood again

as are you