"It's not quite the same, but I feel you so closely."

sometimes bruises look like tea leaves.

you're not quite sure what they're saying

but you know there's a story and a message 

and they're kind of like midnight 

swirls of blues and purples

that will evaporate, be forgotten

until the next time...

and given such a bad rap, but
they're just as much healing as they are pain

... and scars
scars are unsung heroes 

literally connective tissue that holds us together 

when we split open 

in chaos, they provide structure 

protein literally cross-linking 

and yet, despite their best efforts 

to fix what's broken and protect what's inside 

they wind up being less resistant than just leaning into chaos

and why is red so frightening
what about 

passion and intensity and anger
scares us when, without it,

we wouldn't understand blue 

and wouldn't have a frame of reference
for understanding cool distance.

and why do we think we can control yellow,

entranced by bright and happy and yet 

it's a sign of our bodies failing.

and don't get me started on poor brown 

on how the earth and tree trunks and 
the backgammon case from 

home once upon a time 

how brown is comfort and 
feels like manageable warmth.

sometimes bruises look like tea leaves.

and I wonder... why search anywhere else 

for signs, premonitions, or gods

when everything you need to know
can be found at the bottom of the bruises?