Kintsugi

3/11/22

What I would say to a bully.

 

There’s power in a name.

It’s gained by blood initiation

or, if you can brave it,

prayerful reputation.

 

Stop sipping on your excuses,

afraid to avouch your inner bruises.

 

Life is a test.

The longer it takes you to digest,

the longer I choke on the funk and fetor

of your outer bruises.

 

You’re not everythin’

you say you are or seem to be.

 

Even your truth

is a fiction of your own makin’.

 

But you want me to believe

I’m whatever sadistic fantasy

your insecurity dreams me to be

 

repeating what you think

everyone thinks about you—

 

a butterfly without wings,

pinned to a Petri dish

of morbid curiosity,

scrutinized under a magnifying glass

for the world to see.

 

You walk pigeon-toed,

avoiding the cracks on the sidewalks.

 

You only see the cracks on the sidewalks.

 

To you, all the sidewalks are cracked,

which is probably why you hide behind

a porcelain perfect mask.

 

Come out from your digital shell—

a Facebook version of your “best self”—

and own your sin.

 

Show them your blurred tattoos

and dry skin—

all wrinkly and thin—

scars and stretch marks,

your mutilations and burn marks

from rolling the dice

and cutting the deck “thin to win.”

 

You’re holding yourself hostage,

working both sides of the situation

but failing to pay the postage

for your own ransom negotiation.

 

When you were little,

your innocence was stolen.

 

This is the common thread

that binds all bullies and Svengalis.

 

Even little Putin was pushed around

until he found power in pushing buttons.

 

When you grow tired

of perpetuating this cycle,

Virginity will encircle you

and disciple you—

the sooner you fall to your knees.

 

God’s holistic lotion

restores your cracks

with blood and gold resin

from the stripes off his back.

 

Someone who knows you well

once told me that you’re obsessed

with knowing life’s greatest mystery.

 

But what if life’s not as mysterious

as you make it?

What if it’s simple?

 

Dare I suggest:

 

Exchange your brokenness for beauty.

Your ceramic mask

for the Japanese art of Kintsugi.

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Mariann Arredondo
Mariann Arredondo
3 years ago

How Beautiful is that! Synopsis of life.

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