Wounds

I must take a knife
To my  own  skin,
Cut begin again
Deep enough  to free the blood
Leave the lines legible in
Scar tissue
Strings of raised white.

I must cut out
Your name  - leave
A  gash where you
Have been, bloody and wide.
This brand I will carry
As a badge
Marking  the spot, the size

Of the careful incision you
Make  in my heart my life
That hour you  stepped out
Deliberate
To never come  home.

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