Lasting Scars
By John Herlihy

Everyone can boast they have a few faded scars;
An imprimatur of suffering we can truly call ours,
Indelibly marked such that they never go away,
A constant reminder of a past event here to stay.
Years pass and many full moons reveal a naked eye,
The dark landscape of earth from outer space to espy.

But no one and nothing will take the trouble to notice,
The enduring scar, indelible, my own personal lotus.
It flowers within me with all the hallmark of a gash;
It wraps me up securely in ribbons like a blood red sash.
I am marked for life by a fleeting incident from the past;
Universes are born during the time this marking will last.

Ok, I exaggerate, everyone has a sad story worth being told;
Everyone has been cut up into ribbons and for pennies sold.
The marks of hardship will never surrender their wound;
Its calligraphy bears a message to my psyche now well attuned,
To the sorrow of life and the sadness that always sets its sails,
Happiness takes its leave and creeping misery soon prevails.

The scars they are enduring; they never relinquish their trust;
They follow us closely; shadows that cling because they must.
The scars linger still, flush and livid, to pulsate thru the night,
Deep within the sinews of the body and positioned out of sight.
It is enough to know that the scars continue to exist, still there;
They are not going to disappear into Hell by virtue of a prayer.

I forget that the scars are there; but they are never truly gone;
They make themselves known as when fatigue becomes a yawn.
The scars were once the result of battle, open as a gaping wound,
Feeling as if left for dead on a far distant, tropical island marooned.
Although time has healed the wound, the scars still run deep,
They will never go away in this lifetime and into the sinews seep.

My enduring scars from life’s hardships I will take to the grave;
My scars tell the story of how I lived, died and was finally saved.
Future generations will know the secret when I’m no longer around;
My ship with its sails tightly drawn up and ultimately run aground.
Yes, I lived as a human, with a noble body fully seamed with scars;
To awaken into higher consciousness, cracked open from sealed jars.

The earth itself has suffered ravages from outer space;
Cosmic rays showering down from a far distant place.
Cosmic collisions have left marks to shape earth’s history;
Asteroids and meteorites crashed with attendant mystery.
There is even enough cosmic dust to choke the atmosphere,
While near-earth objects court trouble in the stratosphere.

Faded scars are forever lasting, they infinitely endure;
Whether on outer or inner skin, they are safely secure.
In free-fall, they descend to earth from Heaven’s door;
To fall upon us as stars in residence on our skin’s floor.
Our honorable scars are found in glory’s lap holding fast;
Scars so exquisite they endure, exquisite because they last.

Lift the tremulous veil of the night and what do you see,
But an all-encompassing darkness with pretentions to be,
Black velvet spread over the universe brimming with stars,
Bathing the earth in stellar light, revealing its lasting scars.
We smile upon the earth because we see the telltale signs,
Lasting scars within and without, drawn in wrinkled lines.