Leprosy

sanguineous leprosy you have come for me at last. pity the small things. fingernail feelings... i had no need for them in the fourth grade at ellsworth elementary. blood in the principals office, blood in the hallway. returning home off the bus down the gravel road the pool of bethesda in a mudpuddle to my right. the angels stirred up by the undercarrage of a 76 cheyenne passing overhead. it does not leak oil but maybe a little gin and salt. rattling, clanking, coming a little more undone.. april in the kitchen canning blackberry jam. you were a good mother you know. pouring cold bath water over my skin after walking through the stinging nettles. you said dont worry its not leprosy but just a metaphor you will use later in life in a poem. you showed me the bookshelf and described how stinging nettles are called Urtica dioica and originated from austria.