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About This Poem

Scars Left Behind

These are neither ritual cuts
under the left eye 
of a married man, 
nor those forehead to chin,
proving Prussian manhood.

I speak here of geometries
describing present then gone,
marking disassembly 
within the flesh
drawn upon.

My father’s traced excavation,
down from the throat,
under seventh rib
to spine;
cracked open,
the dark parts scooped out,
replaced by I don’t know what.

My mother’s marks 
recorded her history of
loss and pain,
loss and pain,
dissertations in white script,
writ on the body
that breathed me to life.

My own trace flaws
gone sensitive to touch
in the corpus of knowing myself.


Jack Jordan

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  1. Date: 2/15/2013 3:49:00 PM

    You take the reader through a vortex. Well done, Jack.

    Jordan Avatar Jack Jordan Date: 2/15/2013 4:57:00 PM Block poet from commenting on your poetry

    Thank you. I really appreciate your comment. J
  1. Date: 2/3/2013 9:06:00 AM

    VERY deep. So deep that I am not quite sure I got the part about your father. But I see that you are a stellar free verse writer and I hope this does very well in the contest about scars.

    Jordan Avatar Jack Jordan Date: 2/3/2013 10:19:00 AM Block poet from commenting on your poetry

    My father had tuberculosis long ago, when removal of a damaged lung was the last-ditch effort at a cure. Thanks for the support.
  1. Date: 1/31/2013 7:24:00 AM

    Scars for life .... A well-written poem. - Good luck in the contest, Jack. - Have a beautiful day. - oxox / / Anne-Lise :)

    Jordan Avatar Jack Jordan Date: 2/3/2013 10:17:00 AM Block poet from commenting on your poetry

    Thanks for the support.