One Fresh Start
I spill wine that darkens my carpet,
I know this scar,
like jaws around my throat
will remind me daily of my carelessness.
I attack the stain with sparkling water
and vigorous rubbing.
To my surprise, all traces vanish,
handing me one fresh start
in a broken world.
I return for a moment to a time
before I learned my mother
couldn’t fix the pain
of skinned knees,
before I knew that pieces
fall into place only after many
have not,
before I found skin color
more of a constant
than the growth of tree rings,
before I saw a world
where hate doesn’t disappear,
it just hides under rocks
until someone comes along
and kicks them away.
- © Marianne Brems 2020
Marianne Brems is a writer of textbooks and poetry. Finishing Line Press will release her chapbook Sliver of Change in 2020. Her poems have appeared in literary journals including The Pangolin Review, La Scrittrice, The Sunlight Press, and The Tiny Seed Literary Journal. She lives in Northern California. Website: www.mariannebrems.com
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