Tatau

Tatau

Tatau  (samoan)

(tah-TAH-oo) – translation: tattoo

Noun

- An open wound

I looked different after you.

Sometimes I stand in the mirror

And see you written all over.

In the lines of my face and the straightness of my spine,

In the tilt of my chin and the lightness in my eyes –

Still, I carry the marks you left.

I wear them on my skin, covered.

How do they not stare as I pass?

You left so much behind I barely see myself now.

Will they age, I wonder, like ink deep within my skin,

Losing colour and shape as I

Grow old and tired and more weary

Like a testament to lost youth?

Will I still stand in the mirror and smile back at you,

At the imprints of lips and fingertips you left me?

Or will they shine proud, even then,

Despite the ravages of time

And remain untainted and true?

No. They will fade, I’m sure of it, fade but not leave me.

Time heals all, but your memory is not to be healed.

And now as I leave you behind,

These marks, these reminders you left,

Will always be an open wound.

- Willow Craven