The Tricky Business of Dressing a Wound

by Belinda Munoz on September 7, 2011

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A wound need not be open,
bleeding or infected to require bandage.

Sometimes, head-to-toe couture is the dressing,
a luxurious lie that hides the shame of starvation,
scattering stardust to leave behind a blinding screen.
Fools anyone polite enough to shunt a probing stare.

Silly, sentimental songs with a sprinkling
of warm-blooded sin is the fleece
that unfreezes the frost from a shivering heart.
Prickling pain, now bearable,
still throbs just beneath the layers.
.
Undressing is a most critical step.
Not feeling skinned and raw when the
swathe comes off, a trick.
To be good as new, an unwarranted treat.

To let scars breathe and light bathe nakedness, a promise.

For dVerse Poets Pub

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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

1 brian September 7, 2011 at 5:31 am

nice…esp like you close…the undressing…allowing scars to breathe and being ok in the light with your scars…i like

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2 ayala September 7, 2011 at 6:03 am

words of wisdom….scars need to breathe…so hard to dress those wounds inside.

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3 joanna September 7, 2011 at 6:53 am

i also very much like that last line and the wisdom it sheds. “warm-blooded sin” is another great little phrase. :)

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4 Celeste September 7, 2011 at 7:06 am
5 Belinda September 7, 2011 at 10:41 am

Thanks, Celeste. I’ll look into it.

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6 Rudri Bhatt Patel @ Being Rudri September 7, 2011 at 7:49 am

Love the last line. And the accompanying image is cool.

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7 hedgewitch September 7, 2011 at 8:53 am

An excellent study in dealing with pain–the second stanza is full of clarity and the development in the third ups the tempo well, with a strong message throughout that resolves in the last lines of healing. Fine writing, Belinda.

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8 Claudia September 7, 2011 at 9:16 am

wow…this was quite the case study on wounds and healing..such true words belinda and love how you take this from the wounds we can see to the unseen wounds

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9 rob kistner September 7, 2011 at 3:32 pm

Hi, Rob Kistner here. This is a piece well written, engaging – good work… mine is here: http://www.image-verse.com/clown

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10 Shawna September 7, 2011 at 4:06 pm

At first, I misread the opening as “A WOMAN need not be open,
bleeding or infected to require bandage.” … I think that works too. : )

I like your work.

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11 Natasha September 7, 2011 at 4:32 pm

Love the concept of this piece. Original and unique. The words are wove wonderfully, and the image the perfect fit. Yay! Loved it…you should see my invisible bruises!

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12 Marci | Liberating Choices September 8, 2011 at 12:43 pm

Deep. My mind goes in may directions, to real wounds to those under the surface. To known and unknown. Embrace the scars, care for them, but do not hide in the bandage.

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